Genesis 32:13-34:31; Matthew 11:7-30; Psalm 14:1-7; Proverbs 3:19-20
“So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for it is daybreak.’”
“But Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’ The man asked him, ‘What is your name?’ ‘Jacob,’ he answered. Then the man said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.’”
“Jacob said, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he replied, ‘Why do you ask my name?.…’”
“’To what can I compare this generation? It is like children playing a game in the public square…. But wisdom is shown to be right by its results.’”
“Only fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no God.’”
God doesn’t pull punches. He didn’t with Jacob; Jesus didn’t with the people of His generation; and I should not expect the Holy Spirit to “go easy” on me, either. Still, I spend a lot of time asking for exactly that.
“Let’s just let this one little slip be our little secret, God.”
“Is it really so bad if no one else gets hurt?”
“Yes, Lord, I Have Sinned, But I Have Several Excellent Excuses.” (Kudos to James W. Moore for a book well worth reading and possibly the greatest title ever….)
The Holy Spirit is willing to wrestle with us all night when the need arises, and that’s a good thing. It is incredible that God tolerates our tantrums and willfulness and hangs in there with us. He will put up with pretty much anything, as long as it’s real. But if we’re just playing games, or playacting our way through “religion,” we’d better know our Savior understands the benefits of discipline as well as the value of forgiveness. So, it’s a good idea to have friends willing to hold us accountable to the standard of authenticity.
Case in point: I know a guy whose perfectionistic attitude frequently belittled and demeaned others without warning. For years, those few faithful friends who understood the perfectionism masked a massive insecurity just forgave him and worked through it (even as that circle of friends grew ever smaller). But finally, one particularly courageous young lady spoke the true words of God, “Tom, we love you and will keep forgiving you, but you have got to stop doing this!” It was a shot to the heart that changed my life and my attitude. I’m nowhere near perfect on that score even today, but Jesus and I are wrestling through it, and the ol’ Red Dragon seems to be losing his enthusiasm and his teeth, one slow extraction at a time. Funny thing is, as I wrestle with God to hold onto that which I should never have had in the first place, and He takes more and more control, I actually feel more secure, more loved, and more complete.
Strange…. It is not our willfulness, pride or insecurities which separate us from God as much as it is our reluctance to bring those things into our relationship with Him. Christ actually wants to confront and deal with our sins and our shortcomings. He also wants to give us a “new name,” an identity less about us and ever more about Him in us. All it takes is for us to come before Him without show or gamesmanship, and engage. If the Creator believes we are worth fighting for, maybe we should be a little more willing to accept and work through the conflict. His victory is assured, but the prize will be ours.
2 comments:
I wanted to throw this out there and see if anyone has any ideas or an opinion. Last Sunday I ran into one of the third graders who Barb & I sponsored for a Bible. This is a little girl who has a single mom and has been reluctant to come to church recently. I noticed she was carrying her new Bible with her, so I asked how she was liking it. She proudly opened it to the place she had marked, the 9th chapter of Genesis, and said "I've read this much so far!" She seemed very excited and proud of herself. I laughed and said that I just happened to be reading the same stuff myself!
Here is my quandary: Now as I read I put my Daddy-filter on things and I have to admit I am a little uneasy about some things. Here is a very impressionable young girl who is obviously searching and she is about to read about things like Sarah giving Hagar servant to Abraham, circumcision, Lot offering his daughters to the men of Sodom, just about everyone passing their wives off as their sisters, and on and on and on.
Should I try to encourage her to move on to some of the less PG-13 passages, or just trust that God is in control of this? I'm not sure how much guidance her mom is going to provide, and while it is great to have a child show enthusiasm for Scripture, some of what we are reading does cover some very mature topics.
Thoughts?
Matt, great question! Since no one else picked it up, here's my two (or three) cents worth.
First, it's obvious, but we all need to be sure we don't get ourselves bogged down in the fleshy details more than necessary. On the other hand, the Bible is about life, and all that means. While we never want to overemphasize life's prurient side or shock our kids, neither does it help to whitewash our sin nature. Having raised three of my own, kids don't seem to sense the depth of the depravity we adults know is there. But we need them to know what's wrong is wrong.
Next, we know (and can take comfort in the fact) that the Bible speaks in different ways at different times to the same person - that is a sign of growth. In short, I would not get too worried about what the kids can handle; the Holy Spirit seems to be a pretty good moderator of how His Word speaks to both hearts and heads. Most churches have set third grade as the time to get kids really into the Word, and overall, for those who take it seriously, it seems to work out OK.
All that said, the Bible has sparked some pretty deep conversations at our house - and still does. It was, in fact, the genesis (no pun intended) for at least one "birds and bees" talk. So, I would encourage you to make sure you stay available and willing to address the honest questions in a prayerful, thoughtful and age-appropriate way. DON'T duck anything - the Bible is too important to be dodged.
Oh, and don't forget this! The Spirit will give you the words if you just ask. Good luck, and blessings!
Tom
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