Habakkuk 1

I read Habakkuk 1. Verse 2 stands out to me. I feel this verse so strongly. "I cry out to thee 'violence!'" Do I cry violence about the awful situation in Egypt? (for example) Do I cry out to God for help? Do I wonder why God does not respond? Never mind about what congress does or the president does. They cannot really do much. Do I cry out to you God? Now God can really do something. But he seems to hold back.

I know you mourn God over the many faithful Christians being martyred in Egypt right today. And it's not the only place in the world where Christians are being killed. (And God mourns over all religious persecution even if it Moslem on Hindu or even Christian on Jew, for example.) This is just the one that is in the front page news right now. I know you are sad about the many beautiful churches being destroyed in Egypt, some with people in them as they burn. And there are many who are having to flee to become homeless. I am called to be like my master Jesus. Jesus mourns. I should mourn too. That is not natural for me. I work at mourning. But it is not natural for me. I do not mourn with the compassion that God does. DW is much more like Jesus in this. She sees news of all this and is appalled. I cry to God "violence!" God do something!

Verse 4 also hits me hard. The law is ignored. I think we can see that going on today. Though I do not think we are extra special. Still we as a culture are getting selfish and lawless. The verse continues, Justice is never upheld. The wicked surround the righteous and justice comes out perverted. This is so well expressed. It can apply today as it did in Habakkuk's day.

Lord I cry out to you about our country. The description is so good. It is not so much the judge's fault. They really have little control of what is happening. We pervert the laws. We do not act honestly. Justice is impossible when everyone is corrupt. There are not enough laws to keep everything fair when everyone is trying to cheat.

Lord you know. Lord only you know how to administer justice rightly, righteously. God only you. God I cry out for justice in this land. God I ask that you give our leaders wisdom and understanding and the desire to actually do justly and love mercy. God help us to be teachable, to be subject to honest rules. Help us to be law abiding.

The rest of it the chapter goes into the judgment God will bring on the people because they are not righteous and did violence on their neighbor. God could bring that judgment on us too. But it will likely be in a way that we can never predict.

Jacob strives with God Genesis 32

"An atheist does not find God for the same reason a thief does not find a policeman."

Genesis 32 Jacob strives with God. Some would say the man he fought with was Jesus. Jacob calls the place Peniel. Peniel means "face of God".

Jacob sent everyone across the river first. This is a defensive measure. So he spent the night alone on the far side of the river. He was scared of Esau. In his life he was never alone. He was always surrounded by his family, servants, and possessions. But now he is alone. He spends the night alone. God uses this opportunity to confront Jacob.

Jacob has prayed to God for protection. This is a good first step. But then he does everything humanly possible to prepare for the meeting with Esau. Jacob is all prepared. But first God wanted to do some breaking in Jacob. (pun intended, hehe)

Jacob's name was changed to Israel. He goes from usurper, supplanter to "he who strives with God" (or perhaps "God strives"). God is saying the old Jacob is in the past. Now Jacob has a true relationship with God. It is still in process. But it has been deepened.

Striving is something we all should do with God. And it may break us. Most of us need a little breaking.

new post

I have not done a blog in a while. I have been remiss about quiet times.

Reading in Genesis, specifically Genesis 26. The commentator, John Harris, thinks a theme we can take out of this is how God gets his will done on the earth. And a corollary, how much of our life is preordained?

Abraham obeyed God. But God chose Abraham before he obeyed. God chose him. What would have happened if Abraham had not obeyed? Or does this question have any meaning?

I am like the commentator. This is what inspired me to type this blog. The commentator remembered as a small child asking God to guide him in trivial choices, like whether to choose vanilla or chocolate ice cream. In doing this he thought he was pleasing God. I remember doing that too. I was a young child going to Sunday School. Neither of my parents were believers. So I had no one to ask. I was going on my childlike understanding of what I was being taught in Sunday School. I remember a well thought out curriculum, sitting cross legged on the floor of a small room with an adult teacher who was very well meaning. My mental picture is of a dark room, sitting in a circle. We had four page brochures of Bible stories. There were color drawings, like comic books.

Anyway something I learned got me to thinking about God's will. Perhaps it was just such a story as that of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I remember as a boy of 9 or 10 asking God whose house I should go to first when leaving the house in the morning to go play. I was often the first up amongst several children my own age who lived nearby. My mother might have fed me breakfast, I'm not sure. But I wanted to do what God wanted me to do. I wanted to please God, the same way a child that age wants to please his parents. I would ask God to speak to me, then take the first thought that came into my mind as the answer. Within reason of course. As adults when we are faced with a difficult decision do we still sometimes want to do the same thing, get an east answer spoken in our ear by God?

But this is a childish way of seeing our relationship with God.