3:12 God said to the Woman, "What is this that you've done?" The fall of man. Significant consequences for all of us.
"I want you to know how much of a mess you've made out of the beauty I created. Nothing works as it should anymore. But I have a plan that your failures cannot destroy. There is a capacity for beauty in your soul that I will restore. That's a promise." 66 LLI confess that I've made a mess in too many relationships. Yet our Gracious God sees a capacity for beauty in my soul??? Wow. When I'm honest enough to examine my heart, I don't see a capacity for beauty. Not even close. I see sin - pride, judgment, spiritual arrogance, doubt, shame, self-reliance, fear and more. And what do I do with it? I often choose to gloss over it or excuse it or convince myself that I'm not so bad. (So much for that honesty, eh?)
"I want you to realize that I never underestimated how thoroughly you'd mess up your life or how painfully you would struggle and suffer, and I don't want you to underestimate your failures or struggles either. They're all part of the story I'm telling." 66 LLHe knows every one of my shameful secrets yet He makes me a part of the Grand Story He's telling. Mind-boggling!
"But neither have I underestimated My determination or ability to enter the mess you've made and the pain you feel and turn everything around. I can, and I will, make everything good again. Never, never underestimate Me. I have a plan, a very good one, and it will move ahead to completion. Guaranteed! Trust Me. Why? Because I love you even when you're messing up badly. I love you in the middle of your pain even though I don't relieve it as quickly as you wish. I am worthy of your trust, no matter what happens in your life. I have a good plan, and nothing will stop me from carrying it to completion. You must live now in the tension between anguish and hope. 66 LLI'm experiencing that tension now. Not much hope and a lot of anguish in certain relationships. I'm exhausted by on-going drama in my extended family, and over the holidays, I'm afraid I didn't handle the tension very gracefully. It wears me out emotionally.
But God says to trust Him, despite how I feel or what I see, and that He loves me, regardless of the mess I continue to make. He says he enters into my mess and my pain, and He is able to turn it around. He says NOTHING will stop the completion of His plan...guaranteed. How I want to believe and walk in that truth!
O Sovereign God, may we fully trust in Your good plan and Your promises. May You restore beauty to our souls. Thank you for your unfailing mercy and grace in spite of our failures, and for your love that never ends. You alone are worthy of our praise!
10 comments:
Good Morning all and Happy New Year! What a great way to begin this year. I am really looking forward to this study.
Thanks Staci and Cici for all the front work you have done to get this started.
Shannon
It truly is mind-boggling that God makes beauty out of my messes....that my failure cannot change His sovereign plans. Funny (and sad) that I have lived as though my failures would be the end of the world (at least my little world)!
Gen. 3 starts off with one of those fascinating and confusing things about God -- He created the serpent. He created evil. This is difficult for me to grasp. But, what if God isn't the ultimate creator of all things -- what if evil was created outside of God? Really scary. Then, my suffering would have no purpose. "If God's purpose was frustrated before the evil that struck me, why should I believe that his purpose to turn this evil for good will not be frustrated?" (John Piper)
We can trust Him -- the one who created good and evil. I want to trust Him to restore beauty to my soul.
Oh, I think this is going to be so good... And challenging. 66LL highlighted my struggles with entitlement, manipulating circumstances, and managing my image. But even better is the promise that God loves me anyway and makes beauty out of all of it. I'm stirred by beauty... Longing to be beautiful, to see beauty, to experience it. And God promises it to me.
"It's natural when life throws us a curve to ask, "What can i do to make my life better? To protect myself from more pain?" But it is more human to ask, "What story is my life telling?". 66LL
66LL made the point about "natural" vs. "human", which I think means that God made us HUMAN, but our NATURAL reactions are fallen. Interesting point about living life "human" rather than doing what comes "naturally". I want to think on that a bit more. What comes naturally to me? Almost any phrase which starts with "self-" (self-indulgence, self-ishness, self-protection, self-promotion, etc). God created us in His image, as humans. Will be interesting to think more on what makes me truly human, like generosity, kindness, serving others...
So I have to admit, there are a few things in the story of Creation that raise questions for me. Forgive me for being a bit random.
What would have happened if Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Life after eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil? Would they have lived forever as sinful beings and become like Satan's little minions? Would Christ's death on the cross have been unable to save us since death would have no power over us? Creepy.
And the whole curse thing bewilders me...first, the serpent: "I'm declaring war between you and the Woman, between your offspring and hers. He'll wound your head and you'll wound his heel." I understand that reference applies to Satan and Jesus. But what does that really mean...if Satan has offspring, does that mean there are a whole group of people who were created for evil and never have a chance of being saved because they are "Satan's offspring"?
And then the curse on man and woman...so if we hadn't been cursed, childbirth would feel AMAZING and no epidurals would be necessary? And work, for men, would be rich and rewarding and never a struggle to find fulfillment and make money and be successful and work x number of hours? Perhaps that gives us a glimpse of what heaven might be like (except would women really still bear children???)
Yet despite all of these random questions I have, asking God, "why did you do it this way?", I want to cling to the bottom line, as Larry Crabb so succintly expresses, "we've made a mess, but God has a plan." Thank goodness I'm not in charge (even though I often think I am!!!)
I'm thrilled to see so many names and faces of those of you who are joining us on this journey. There are women from all across the country - north and south, east and west. How cool is that?!?
Staci and I prayed for each of you last night, asking that God would reveal Himself to you through His Word.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Sarah and Amanda (and Staci)! I love how God speaks to each of us individually.
The mind boggling question again...Did God create evil? My husband and I tend to discuss this one at least once a year if not more. God created the serpent...but the serpent itself wasn't evil, until Satan entered it. God created Satan, but as an Angel who later rebelled against God. So does this indicate...Angel's as humans have free-will? So by creating our free-will God created the ability to sin (evil).? Of course....our all knowing God knew from the beginning that Lucifer would choose to rebel and all the consequences that would follow, yet God still created. It is amazing isn't it? All the more proof of God's great Love and Mercy and His desire for fellowship with us, His creation. That our lives might Glorify Him!
I am excited about fellowshipping with Him, together with each of you this year !
Delighted to know that I can join you in reading through the entire Bible this year. I was going to do it alone. And if today's comments are a glimpse of what God has in store---oh my! Gen. 1:2 touches something in me: "The Spirit of God is brooding over the waters like a bird over its nest until new life stirs beneath the sheltering wings." I see the evil in me of wanting something way too much and sometimes more than wanting the Love of my God. This God Who was brooding on Day 1 is still brooding 1.1.11 over all my mess to bring new Life in me in 2011.
It is exillerating to me that I am a part of God's great plan, even my small part. It gives me great comfort that He uses even my messy and problematic life to contribute to what He is about on this earth. The God who made "all sorts" of animals, fish and plants, and put the stars in the heavens knows my little and big fears, dreams, and selfish yearnings and still patiently waits for me to trust Him AGAIN. My little choices during the day have an impact, just like my large decisions. I'm guessing that Adam and Eve never imagined that their one simple choice had such huge ramifications. I wonder how my choices today will impact those I came in contact with (my next door neighbors), and those I'll never see or know?
I just read the epilogue, intro thingy, and chapter one of 66LL and am so excited about this journey! I have been reading the Bible inconsistently since having kids and am excited about having a community to read alongside and delve into the good, the bad, and the ugly together. :) No excuses anymore. I can carve out 15 minutes a day!
Thank you for setting up this blog for many of us who are seeking God's Will, despite our own willfulness to "fix", "control" and "manage" our lives in our daily circumstances. I am guilty of continuingly trying the above day in and day out.
It was comforting to read about God's Plan will not be thwarted despite all my efforts to do what comes naturally to me, i.e. fix it.
Bobby
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