SHAKIN’ UP THE OLD

My husband and I are in our mid-forties. Now, to some of you, that’s ancient and to others we’re mere babes. In my mind, I think I’m the same high school/college student, young mom, working woman that can read a book, change a diaper and cook a meal from morning ‘til night with one hand tied behind my back. Then I try to get out of bed in the morning or I look in the mirror and – Yikes! – some middle-aged, flawed replica of my mother has taken over my body! I run to the curio to find my baby pictures, and guess what – they’re black and white. Not because it’s a photographic technique, but because it was the kind of film they used back then. Ugh.

Part of our summer vacation has been spent with family and “old” high school, college and seminary friends. The universal theme of each re-acquaintance? “My body is falling apart!” Some good "old" seminary friends took us to the Louisville Slugger factory in Kentucky, where Roy and George were reminded of their age in the batting cage. The guy said the pitches were only coming at 35 mph, but since we all may be candidates for hearing aids soon, maybe he said 135 mph?

Age is one of those great tools God uses to shake us up. Health, finances, children’s behavior – all these, and many more, are also factors beyond our control that God uses to shake everything up and separate the temporary from the enduring elements in our lives. Without the shaking, we’d never understand the lasting quality of the truly important things.

Haggai 2:1-3 – “On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: ‘Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, `Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing?’”

• The older we get, the more loss we endure – relationally, materially, occupationally, and even in our identity. As we get older, we have seen more, done more and know more. It’s harder to be humble, and we feel as if we deserve a little return on our investment in life. Unfortunately, these attitudes can sabotage humble, gracious senior saints. If we keep our focus on temporal, earthly things, comparisons of days gone by will soon bring discouragement and despair. Even twenty-somethings begin to see their wisdom grow and then discarded by those who make seemingly thoughtless decisions built on sand.

Haggai 2:4-5 – “‘But now be strong, O Zerubbabel,’ declares the LORD. ‘Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the LORD, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the LORD Almighty. ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear’” (emphasis added).

• No matter what the outward appearance of the small, replacement Temple, God encouraged the older Jews to be strong and keep working – not in their own strength, but because His Spirit remained among them. The Lord knows we can’t do it by ourselves. He knows our bodies, our will-power, our minds, our commitments will fail. That’s why He left His Spirit among the Jews in Jerusalem, and that’s why He has given us His Spirit to dwell within us to do what our mortal bodies and minds will otherwise be unable to do. And He instructs – and equips – us to do it without FEAR.

Haggai 2:6-9 – “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty. ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the LORD Almighty.’”

• God’s peace is not cotton clouds and strumming cherubs. God’s peace comes out of the shaking. It is resounding praise born out of chaos. God chose to shake the mediocre and temporal to reveal the glorious and eternal.

Lord, I know that You are all that lasts. You and you alone are my peace. Though You shake the very ground beneath my feet, I will trust in You to bring that glorious, enigmatic peace that comes by trusting You in the midst of the tremor. You are the Island in the vast ocean of uncertainty. You are the Anchor that drops beneath the violent storm. You are my Mighty Fortress, where I hide while the battles rage around me. Let it be so, Father.

MESSY BLESSINGS AND KIND COVENANTS

I started saying it when my girls were very young. I’d pull their feathery fine hair into a tiny rubber band or barrette, and they’d squawk or even cry, “Mommy, it hurts!” Then the famous phrase: “It hurts to be beautiful, honey.” Their hair got longer, and we graduated to French braids, twisting and pulling between my fingers. I shared with them the exquisite feminine discomforts of plucked eyebrows and armpit razor burn. Then came the day Trina wanted me to highlight her hair. We purchased a kit at the drugstore and fit the tight little cap on her head. Silky, long brown hair hung down twelve inches below the cap, and I stood with what looked like a crochet hook in hand, reading the instructions aloud: “Pull small tufts of hair through holes in cap with the hair hook…” After 45 minutes of torturing my child, we were both in tears. I asked if she wanted me to stop, and this time from her lips came the mantra: “No, Mom. It hurts to be beautiful.” A few years later, our daughter Emily lived in Brazil as an exchange student and adopted the cultural practice of salon waxing. And let me tell you, in Brazil, they wax everything. When Emily returned, with legs and pits as smooth as a baby’s bottom (and no need to shave again for 2 months, ladies!), I asked the obvious question, “Didn’t it hurt like the dickens?” She answered with her mother’s wise words, “Yes, but it hurts to be beautiful.” Now, I joke with my girls about their beauty, but they know the real truth. I may have hurt them in small ways to teach them little womanly arts, but my covenant with them as a parent is to love, protect and provide for them regardless of their outward appearance. To bless them with the “extras” of beauty, they had to become actively involved – submitting to the torturous highlighting and waxing – but my loving covenant to them as a parent doesn’t depend on anything they do or don’t do. It’s a bit of a stretch, but try to follow my logic as I apply it to God’s blessing and covenant with Noah…

Gen. 9:1 – “Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.’”

• The first word of God’s blessing was a directive, a command. Sometimes God’s direction – which requires work on our part – is the best blessing He can give us!

Gen. 9:2-4 – “The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.”

• If I’m a Debbie-Downer, I’m going to look at this blessing and say, “Bummer! The animals are afraid of me now, and I have to eat their flesh? Ick!” But remember human relationship to Creation was vastly different BEFORE the flood. From these verses, we realize that God was protecting humankind by making animals afraid of us, and even though the act of killing an animal for food was distasteful, it foretold a time when crops would not be sufficient to sustain life. Blessings…with a hard message for the future.

Gen. 9:5-7 – “And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man. As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”

• God blesses retribution – which implies Noah’s descendants will fall into the same depravity he’s just seen destroyed on the earth. But God repeats his original command to Noah, reminding him not to get focused on the negative. He is responsible only to be faithful in what God has called him to do.

Gen. 9:8-11 – “Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: ‘I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you--the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you--every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.’”

• God established His covenant with ALL living creatures, human and animals, and He didn’t ask them to respond or participate. He simply promised them He would never again destroy the earth by flood. For the blessings, He asked for participation. For the covenant, He simply made His promise.

Gen. 9:12-17 – “And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.’ So God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.’”

• The Lord not only asks us to set special celebrations and occasions to remember His faithfulness. He followed His own advice and set a remembrance for Himself. Think of the rainbow as God’s post-it note to Himself, not because He might forget, but because He wants to recall the tender emotion and relationship born out of the moment Noah and his little family stepped off that ark.

Lord, Your desire to bless and covenant with Your people astounds me. Why? Why do You stretch us with blessings You know we’ll cry and wail about at first and then dash away with happily later – sometimes forgetting to thank You? Thank You for Your covenant promise that requires nothing from me but breath. Sometimes breath seems all I have, but I breathe…amen.

TAKING THE INITIATIVE

My mother is an amazing woman – my counselor, friend, and all-round hero. When our daughters were young, and Roy and I needed to attend a conference, my mom would wave good-bye to my dad (who is also wonderful) and travel the three hours to stay with our girls. Mom would cook and clean and do our laundry all day, while the girls were at school. And when the girls got home, they’d watch movies and eat popcorn all evening. Roy and I would return home to a sparkling house and tearful children – sad to see Grandma Cooley leaving! However, after Grandma left, more fun was in store. Did I mention that my mom did the laundry? And never let it be said that my mother left a job half done. Oh no! She also put away our clothes – wherever she thought they should go. Thus, after Grandma Cooley left, our household began what we called the Laundry Treasure Hunt. My husband’s underwear was discovered with his T-shirts, his socks with my shorts. The girls found their T-shirts hung-up in my closet and their jeans rolled like tubes. But each time I had to call my mom to ask where a favorite shirt or team uniform might have been stashed, I hope I was adamant in expressing my thanks. You see, to me it was a tremendous blessing that she took the initiative to help me by doing the laundry. The fact that she didn’t get everything put away exactly right was a secondary matter. Taking the initiative – when it’s done with pure motives – is a tender expression of love. Did I mention that my mother is amazing?

(You’ll need this Scripture for figuring times and days later on…)
Gen. 7:11,13 – “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month--on that day...Noah…entered the ark.”

Gen. 8:6-12 – “After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove could find no place to set its feet because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.”

• Notice God didn’t tell Noah to DO anything. Noah waited forty days, and HE decided to send out a raven…and then a dove, when the raven didn’t work out. And when the dove came back to him, HE waited seven more days and tried again. God was silent through it all, but Noah didn’t seem to get mad at God when Noah’s initiatives failed. And then when the dove didn’t return, did Noah jump off the boat? No. He patiently waited some more rather than shaking his fist at God. I could learn from that.

Gen. 8:13-14 – “By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry.”

• Okay, if I’m Mrs. Noah, and I’ve been on that boat 318 days – Noah pops the top on the ark, and I see dry land. I want off that boat! But no. Noah waits the 30 days of the first month and 27 days into the second month until the earth was completely dry. How difficult would it be to wait when everything in your reasoning mind says you should, you could, you deserve to be off that ark?

Gen. 8:15-19 – “Then God said to Noah, ‘Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you--the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground--so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it.’ So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives. All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds--everything that moves on the earth--came out of the ark, one kind after another.”

• Finally, God’s voice! Scripture has not recorded God speaking to Noah since seven days prior to the flood – that’s 382 days of silence. During God’s silence, Noah had to step out on his own initiative, fueled by gut-level passion, not prickly emotion.

Gen. 8:20-22 – “Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: ‘Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease’” (emphasis added).

• We don’t know if Noah understood the concept of “clean and unclean” animals before the ark experience. However, God made the distinction when bringing the animals to the ark, and Noah’s first activity on dry land was an offering of thanks to God with the new lesson he’d learned. Notice that Scripture records the response of God’s heart, not His words to Noah. I love that. It implies that Noah was able to know God’s heart as well as hear God’s voice. A tender relationship renewed on a new earth.

Lord, I’ve come to believe that You don’t mind me taking the initiative while I wait on You to speak – as long as I can accept failed attempts without bitterness or devastating disappointment. But I must be confident of Your clear voice at some point and then remember to worship You, when I hear it. Help me to recognize Your voice, Father. Help me to hear it clearly.

TESTING OBJECT PERMANENCE

Have you heard the litmus test to determine who loves you more – your spouse or your dog? Lock them both in the trunk, and when you open the trunk an hour later, the one who greets you with kisses loves you more! Okay, bad idea. Please don’t try that one. This particular test has more to do with object permanence than true love (and would send most initiating spouses to the hospital or an attorney). Humans, unlike our canine friends, realize that an object can still exist even when they can’t see it anymore. Our four-legged friends think that when an object disappears, it’s gone completely. When you open your trunk after an hour’s absence, your puppy thinks you’ve been reborn. Your spouse, on the other hand, knows you’re a permanent object outside the trunk – and probably just lived your last hour on this earth. Object permanence develops in the early stages of life – so says my educator husband – around 1-2 years of age. Parents of toddlers will recognize the screaming Velcro child, clinging to you at the daycare or church nursery door. They’re not quite convinced you’ll ever come back for them. By our repeated return, and a few other social cues, our children begin to learn the concept of object permanence. Noah (at age 600) and his family had learned the concept well by the time they entered the ark, but all they’d known as permanent was about to be destroyed – or was it?

Gen. 7:17-20 – “For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet.”

• Mountains. If they’ve never been a part of your daily life, you might struggle to fully grasp their power, their comfort. When you live with mountains, their constant presence surrounds you like a faithful friend – no matter your mood or circumstance. Even on a rainy day, when the clouds hide their majestic presence, you know the mountains still stand faithfully behind the clouds. I don’t worship the mountains as god, but they illustrate so many of my God’s characteristics that there is indeed some reverence in my heart for the great lumps of earth and rock I see outside my window. Many things in God’s Creation illustrate God’s Person. My mountain looks different every time I visit its peak, but it stands forever, never-changing in its nature. Look at Creation around you. Let it mirror your God…

Gen. 7:21-24 – “Every living thing that moved on the earth perished--birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark. The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.”

• In this situation, object permanence was going to work against Noah and his family. The animals, birds, people – everything that had the breath of life in it – dead. God said it three times to be sure we understood it. Dead. Go back and read the account of the flood. It wasn’t just rain. It was the springs of the great deep bursting forth and the floodgates of heaven opening (7:11). The foundations of the earth – rocks, hills, plains – would have been rearranged. They had 150 days – 5 months – to create a new “normal” on that ark and blot out the old way of life. Nothing would be the same when they stepped onto the new earth…well, almost nothing….

Gen. 8:1-5 – “But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible” (emphasis added).

• Ah, those amazing mountains…. Before Noah could see them, he felt the BUMP! on the bow of his boat. They sat for three months, anchored to mountains they now knew were there – the joy of object permanence. And then, three months later, they saw the peaks of those familiar friends they’d known before the destruction. Can you imagine the relief, the wonder, the elation…the questions, the planning, the wondering what’s next? Noah was human, after all!

Lord, at every turn Your love astounds me. I see it in the nuances of stories in Your Word, the thoughtful little things You do for those You adore. I’m enthralled by the careful steps through which You lead each individual on a unique journey meant specifically to draw him/her into Your arms. What joy to know I’m on a similar journey with You, mapped out just for me. I love You, Jesus.

THE GENTLE COMMANDER

Do you remember those first awkward attempts at writing your name? Forming the letters with those big pencils or crayons? Perhaps a parent or teacher placed their hand around yours to guide your progress – a stick, a loop, a curve, crossing a “t”, dotting an “i”. How about the first time you rode a bike without training wheels? Did someone hold onto the back of the bicycle seat, running behind you until the pedaling could maintain your balance? I remember another such milestone in my development. I think I was in first grade, and I had joined a Brownie Troop – you know, the precursor to Girl Scouts. It was mostly fun and games until at one meeting the leader announced what was thought to be a grand event. To me, it marked a moment of panic. The Father/Daughter Dance was upon us, but I had no idea how to waltz; and I was stricken with the belief that surely every other first grade girl knew how to dance like Cinderella. (Why do we torture ourselves like this?) I went home to announce that my life was over and I could never attend another Brownie meeting – especially not the Father/Daughter Dance. My father, knowing his daughter was the high countess of all drama-queens, gently took my hands and said, “Stand on my feet, baby girl.” I placed one foot on each of his Wing-tip shoes, and he began to waltz. I’d watched longingly each New Year’s Eve as my parents glided across our family-room floor to Guy Lombardo’s band music. Now, I was waltzing with my daddy, and all I had to do was keep my feet planted firmly on his. When I consider all that Noah had to do, I wonder if he didn’t need a little “hands on” help from God…

Gen. 7:1-5 – “The LORD then said to Noah, ‘Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.’ And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.”

• Okay, let’s break it down. Noah had two things to do, and God had two things to do:

Noah’s two things:

1. Go into the ark so you don’t get wiped from the face of the earth when the
   flood comes.
2. Take with you…certain animals.

God’s two things:

1. Start the rain in seven days and continue for forty days and nights.
2. Wipe from the face of the earth every living creature that He had made.
   Noah didn’t seem worried about God’s “to-do” list. Noah focused on what Noah had to do, and he let God do what God said He’d do. Hmmm. Interesting concept.

Gen. 7:6-10 – “Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth” (emphasis added).

• Okay, now it seems that entering the ark to escape floodwaters is a given. Duh, right? And I can see how going out to search for every kind of animal might be overwhelming, but for heaven’s sake – the animals came to Noah! Another gimme, right? But stop, and become Noah for just a moment. Look at your neighborhood as if for the last time before it’s totally destroyed. Consider every living creature – human and animal – every structure of your society, everything you know to be familiar and normal. All about to vanish – literally – from the face of the earth. After 100 years of building an ark – the strange contraption of his salvation – Noah needed the gentle hand of his Commander guiding these final steps.

Gen. 7:11-16 – “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month--on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in” (emphasis added).

• Let me ask you this. Why record what year, month and day of Noah’s life the flood occurred? Didn’t the earth start over at that point? So why is God so adamant about twice saying “on that day” and “on that very day”? Because every day of Noah’s life was precious to God – not one was forgotten or wasted or unimportant. God guided Noah’s hand, held onto his bicycle seat and let him waltz on God’s big feet all the days of Noah’s life – because our God is the Gentle Commander. He expects strict, unyielding obedience. Noah did as God commanded. But God guided him tenderly every step of the way.

Lord, You are an exacting Teacher, but You are also a loving Guide, who walks every path with me. When I’m tired and discouraged, remind me of Your tenderness that carries me through the rough spots. If I’m feeling overwhelmed, help me discern if I’ve taken part of Your to-do list and made it my own. Teach me to allow You to guide my hand, using Your strength and Your wisdom to complete the tasks before me.

SEPARATE TOGETHER

Now, it would be important to keep the woodpecker separate from all other creatures on the ark - am I right? Actually, keeping the woodpecker separate from EVERYTHING would have been essential....

Heads and tails, two sides of the same coin – inseparable without destroying the essence of the object. Peas in a pod, separate objects, yet one depends on the other for growth and development until it separates into its full purpose. A clock face and the two hands of time – the face with its numbers would be useless without the long and short hands of time to give clear indication of time passing, separate entities that work in concert, giving meaning to a circle and two sticks. Contemplate “separate” for a moment. Imagine if your fingers weren’t separate. You’d have one big mitten for a hand. Bummer. No thumbs. Typing would be much slower. How would you play a piano, hold a pencil, work a remote control? Yikes! These are the deep questions that keep me awake at night. Not really. But isn’t it cool how many things in this world God separated and yet still uses together? As my children are getting older, it’s important that I get a clearer understanding of this separate-together concept. As my parents are getting older, it’s important that I get a clearer understanding of separate-together. As I am getting older, it’s important to learn that even though God separates, He still unites in interesting ways….

Gen. 6:9-10 – “This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.”

• Notice that Scripture said Noah walked with God, but it is silent about his sons’ character or relationship with God. Shem, Ham and Japheth were separate individuals, who in their own hearts had to make separate decisions about their faith; but they were included in the ark of salvation – it seems – because of their association with a father of faith. Today, there is no ark of salvation in which our family or friends can sneak in on the skirt-tails of our faith. Each one must decide to enter the Ark of Jesus Christ by his or her own personal faith; however, family units still have great influence in that decision process.

Gen. 6:11-13 – “Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, ‘I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.’”

• In God’s sight, the earth and people are separate entities, and it was the people’s violence that caused the corruption of the earth. Our individual sin, from the very beginning, has affected more than just the individual. The next time temptation comes knocking on your heart’s door, please consider the innocents affected by your individual, separate-seeming sin.

Gen. 9:14-17 – “So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.”

• Notice the separation in destruction. All life under the heavens, and only creatures that had breath, right? What about those that didn’t breathe – fish, for instance – did they perish? Even those who didn’t perish – the residents of the ark – were to be separated into lower, middle and upper decks. They’d be saved – separately, together. They’d survive – separately, together. They’d re-create the whole earth – separately, together. Separate yet together seems to be the recurring theme in everything God does – much more complicated than one or the other because it requires judgment, direction, wisdom.

Gen. 6:18-22 – “But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark--you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.’ Noah did everything just as God commanded him.”

• God was very explicit with Noah, huh? Male and female, birds, regular “animals”, and creatures that move along the ground. Elsewhere God distinguishes between livestock and beasts of the field. Here he talks about keeping the different kinds of food – for man and beast – separated for storage. Think of the immensity of this task. Noah had to store every kind of food in order to survive and then be able to reproduce that food later. Now, realize anew the weight of the words, “Noah did everything just as God commanded him.” Not only did the life of those in the ark depend on it, but the future of the earth as well.

Lord, when the task required such intricate detail, Who better to give instruction than the Creator of countless variations of delicate flowers? When a task or project seems overwhelming to me, I often see the whole picture as too large. Teach me to listen for Your separate instructions, Lord, on each detail. Teach me to wait on You for each separate step and learn to put them together in Your time, with Your particular process in place for the whole.

Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes! by Robin Jones Gunn

My wild and wacky friend, Robin Gunn, has a new Sisterchick novel coming to bookstores May 5, 2009! For all the details, and a listing of her other publications, visit her website at www.robingunn.com. Here's a little snippet of what's waiting for all you Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes:

Summer and Noelle, two pen pals since 4th grade, meet for the first time in the land of tulips and windmills. An abnormal mammogram sends Summer on a quest to fulfill her lifelong wish before she begins the same struggle her mother fought against breast cancer. The story of these two Sisterchicks is brimming with hope and cheer and will bring encouragement for any woman who has faced a fearful future.

SIN SO LONG

Wouldn’t sin be much easier to avoid if its consequences were immediate? Not that I’m telling God how to run his world, or anything – but I guess I am. If Eve had dropped dead the moment she ate the fruit, wouldn’t Adam have had greater incentive not to eat it? If only my face would bloat the moment I ate that third piece of chocolate cake. If only an eye would fall out, when I willfully watched pornographic material that the world deemed appropriate for those over seventeen years of age (I’m talking “R” rated movies, not “Honey Goes to Vegas”). If only the consequences of sin immediately followed my sin – I would be far less likely to sin. Think about it. When a two-year-old touches Grandma’s antique crystal vase, don’t we immediately smack his chubby little hand (or put his hand in time-out)? THAT’s immediate consequence for sin. But guess what? We’re not two-year-olds, are we? God expects us to obey without an immediate hand smack. He expects us to trust, when He says the consequences are real and imminent and eternal. We can only sin so long before God eventually intervenes to stop it; however, the full consequences of that sin may not be fully realized for years to come…

Gen. 6:1-3 – “When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the LORD said, ‘My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years’” (emphasis added).

• “Sons of God” is believed to indicate angels who came to earth and procreated with mortal women. I used to fume over these verses because God judged the mortals, who appeared to be the victims in this whole mess. However, consider the broader picture. Angels “marrying” mortals will have mortal children, who will consequently die in God’s judgment of 120 years. Immortal angels will watch their offspring die – now, that’s judgment. And what is 120 years to an immortal angel? A blink of an eye. Now, who do you think received the more severe judgment – mortals or immortals?

Gen. 6:4 – “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days--and also afterward--when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.”

• This verse shows the level of depravity; it’s the litmus test of a society’s sin. The Nephilim, the shameful offspring of angels and women, prompted men’s pride rather than their repentance. Granted, the Nephilim were awesome specimens. Sometimes sin births an outwardly beautiful result – instant gratification – while inwardly and eventually, it delivers judgment, destruction and death. Humankind celebrated and esteemed the very sin that caused their judgment.

Gen. 6:5-8 – “The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, ‘I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth--men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air--for I am grieved that I have made them.’ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD” (emphasis added).

• I always thought God destroyed the earth with a flood because He was angry. Nope. Wrong emotion. God was grieved, His heart filled with pain. Why was I so quick to accuse God of being angry, when Scripture plainly tells me that His response to sin was grief and pain? Granted, Scripture has many other instances in which God’s anger is stirred by people’s sin. But doesn’t anger often spring from grief? As a parent, I often try not to discipline in the heat of anger, in the midst of my hurt. Consider this – is that why the consequences of my sin don’t immediately follow the offense? Now, I realize God is perfect and can never sin. He does not have the human failings of a fallen parent. But perhaps, just perhaps, forestalling the consequences of our sin keeps Him from judging in wrath or in the midst of deep hurt. Something to ponder – that will at the very least make us better parents, teachers, leaders.

Lord, somehow knowing that my sin grieves You makes me want to be more obedient. There’s a little bit of ornery in me that seeks to challenge an angry God, but I don’t ever want to cause my Heavenly Father pain. Disappointing You seems unbearable. Hurting You feels miserable. Betraying You is unthinkable. Let the conviction be real and unquenchable.

GOOD GENES

Do you have good genes? In my day, Calvin Klein, Jordache, and Levi were always the standard – oh, wait. Genes. Like the genes passed down from my mom's mom (we called her Mom-Mom), who lived to be 101 years-old. That's her above, at her 100th birthday party, with my mom and dad, sister, brother and me. Genes - you don't get to shop for them, try them on for size. Genetics Home Reference Handbook says that genes are the basic physical and functional unit of heredity. They are made up of DNA and act as instructions to make molecules called proteins. Yawn. No quiz at the end, I promise. You know what I want to know about genes? Do my genes determine my lifespan? Are they at least an indicator of how long I should live? What external factors override our internal, hereditary trends? Stupidity could count as one external, overriding factor, I suppose. How many of us have at one point or another made an idiotic decision that will no doubt shorten our lifespan? Supernatural intervention is an external factor that overrides our hereditary trends – sometimes Satan destroys, sometimes God intervenes. Still, it’s fun to look at a family tree from beginning to, well – beginning – and notice some interesting facts…

Gen. 5:1-3 – “This is the written account of Adam’s line. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created, he called them ‘man.’ When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth.”

• In our written account, our Bible, Adam’s line begins with Cain. In the ancient writings, “man” begins with Seth – the “do-over” kid, whose name meant “granted” – and he looked like his dad. What grace.

Gen. 5:4-8 – “After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Adam lived 930 years, and then he died. When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father of Enosh. And after he became the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Seth lived 912 years, and then he died” (emphasis added).

• Notice the long lifespan and the mention of not only multiple sons but also daughters in Seth’s lineage, emphasizing people and relationship. In Cain’s genealogy only one son was mentioned until Lamech’s dual marriage (4:19-22), and things and accomplishment were emphasized. (Unfortunately, we know that all humanity – except Noah – eventually became completely corrupt and violent. Even Seth’s line chose to turn away from the Name of the Lord.)

Gen. 5:9-24 – “When Enosh had lived 90 years, he became the father of Kenan…and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enosh lived 905 years, and then he died. When Kenan had lived 70 years, he became the father of Mahalalel…and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Kenan lived 910 years, and then he died. When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became the father of Jared…and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Mahalalel lived 895 years, and then he died. When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch…and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Jared lived 962 years, and then he died. When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah…and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away” (emphasis added).

• Please read the last sentence again. It’s easy to miss it. Enoch lived about 1/3 as long as his ancestors – but he walked with God for those years. Did he feel cheated by such a comparably short life? Did his family feel cheated? Notice, Scripture does not say Enoch died. A dear friend, who is a retired seminary professor, once said, “Perhaps Enoch and God were walking in the cool of the evening and God said, ‘Hey, Enoch, why don’t you just come home with me tonight?’” I love that. I want that kind of walk with God – the kind when I close my eyes in this world, God simply invites me to His house for eternity.

Gen. 5:25-32 – “When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech…and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Methuselah lived 969 years, and then he died. When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. He named him Noah and said, ‘He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the LORD has cursed.’…Lamech…had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Lamech lived 777 years, and then he died. After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth” (emphasis added).

• Lamech fell prey to a common snare – looking to a human savior. Lamech looked to his son, Noah, for comfort. Others look to spouses, friends, co-workers, etc. to fill emotional, physical and spiritual needs. Let’s examine the other side of the proverbial coin. What did that kind of pressure do to Noah? He was 500 years-old before he had children, for heaven’s sake! But it was for heaven’s sake that he was ultimately refined and made righteous. Did he bring the comfort his father hoped for? See the “Sheep Going Deep” section to ponder the possibilities.

Lord, when someone disappoints me, help me to examine my heart – to determine if I have placed unholy hope on their shoulders. Teach me to treasure all the blessings You give in this lifetime, but at the same time, remembering there is only one Savior, one ultimate Hope.

Interview with Author, Jill Eileen Smith

As many of you know, I have a passion for God's Word. That passion finds its expression in many forms. These devotional posts are one form; however, several months ago, the Lord opened the door for another exciting opportunity to explore God's Word in a new way. I'm currently writing two novels - one, retelling the story of Job's life (release date 1/2011); and a second, depicting Solomon's early reign as seen in the Song of Songs (release date 1/2012). During my writing journey, I've met other friends with a similar passion to paint the pictures of Scripture with broad strokes of living color. Jill Eileen Smith is one of those friends. I asked her to share a little bit about the writing journey of her first biblical novel, Michal. I hope you enjoy getting to know her and will stop by her website or blog to find out more about this compelling retelling of David's first wife.

Mesu: How long have you been writing?

Jill: All totaled, not counting high school days, about 24 years.

Mesu: Why/how did you choose to write about Michal?

Jill: Initially, I didn’t. My first attempt at writing was a two-volume epic on King David. I tried to sell the epic 28 times but to no avail. One rejection letter, however, came from an editor at Harper & Row suggesting that I change the focus from David to Michal. At the time, I turned her down. Many years later, however, I could no longer ignore the prompting and wrote the book. Michal’s story became the first book in The Wives of King David series, and that same editor, Lonnie Hull Dupont, now with Revell, bought the series 16 years after that initial suggestion. So though I chose to write about David, I did not initially choose to write about Michal. Now, of course, I’m very glad I did.

Mesu: What new information did you discover about Scripture or your characters that surprised you, disappointed you; anything that made you angry or awed?

Jill: Hmm…this is an interesting question. I’m not sure I have a definitive answer. I had studied David’s life for at least seven years, so I knew his story fairly well. Michal’s story intertwines with his, but in some places when she is separated from David, the details of her life are left to the imagination. There really wasn’t much new information in Scripture to discover about her that awed or angered me. When I wrote this book I understood the Scriptural aspects in such a way that they were not new to me. Now in the current writing of Bathsheba’s story, I’ve discovered some interesting things, but I can’t share those yet because the book isn’t finished. J

Mesu: How did you research your book?

Jill: I studied the biblical passage a lot. I read commentaries on the passages, read it in other versions, studied Bible dictionaries, history, geography, customs and manners – anything I could get my hands on to help illuminate what might have been. In my current writing, I spent a day researching Hebrew word meanings in 2 Samuel 11 to better understand the scene and the characters’ motivations. The best research was a trip to Israel in 2008 – a wonderful addition to years of study.

Mesu: How is writing biblical fiction different than writing other types of novels?

Jill: I think the biggest challenge to authors of this genre is accuracy. Some will work hard only to set the stage of historical accuracy, not minding if they have to tweak the biblical account, as long as the story’s historical setting is correct. (All historical authors should research the period to stay true to the time and place.) But Christian authors have the added challenge of keeping the biblical account accurate, of not deviating from what is written in Scripture or changing the meaning. I personally think a Christian author of biblical fiction needs to study the Word, to know the whole counsel of God, not just the small portion where their story is set. There are times a person is spoken of later in the Bible and it’s important to read what is said about them outside of their specific story. It is also important to understand the Bible as a whole in order to stay true to its message.

Mesu: Does biblical fiction’s unique framework make it more challenging for the author or easier?

Jill: Short answer: It depends. Harder for the Christian author because of the need to weave the fine details of the Bible’s story in with their own fictional tale. Easier in that the plot is at least in part laid out for the author.

Long answers: I read a story about Esther recently written many years ago and now out of print. A wonderfully retold tale – though the craft – the telling and head hopping – would not bode well in today’s market. Still, the story is skillfully done. My one nit-pickiness was in recognizing that the author left part of the Bible tale out to fit her story. For instance, instead of showing Esther hold her banquet over two days before telling the king her plea, she tells him her request on the first night, the first time he asks. In Michal a similar situation arose when David evaded King Saul’s spear twice. The novelist must decide – leave one out for the sake of story or try to understand why and how it might have happened twice as stated in the Bible. The framework of Scripture is placed there by God and while these details might not matter whether they are included in our fictional stories or not, a biblical novelist is challenged with trying to understand how they might have happened and why they are included. Writing a redundant scene is not necessary, but perhaps the repetition makes logical sense and could add to the tension and conflict of the story.

Mesu: What other projects are you currently working on? Release dates?

Jill: Abigail: A Novel, Book 2 in The Wives of King David,
Turmoil marked her life—what price must she pay for love?
release date: February 1, 2010.

Bathsheba is in first draft stage – should release Spring 2011.

The Wives of the Patriarchs – titles and release dates to be announced. Books will focus on the wives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

http://www.jilleileensmith.com/
http://www.thewivesofkingdavid.com/