Tag: Old Testament

A Renewal of the Mind

Approaching reading the Bible in a reflective light.

In November of 2019, I decided I wanted to try reading the Bible in a year. Fast-forward to now (cough, June 2023, cough) and I have three books left! Starting in Genesis…getting stuck in Leviticus…meandering through the New Testament before circling back to the prophets…I’ve found myself in 2 Chronicles as one of my final books.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure how much I would learn from the Chronicles. One king after another doing the wrong thing, a reminder that only Jesus is the perfect king. Among fascinating stories, I ended up contemplating 2 Chronicles chapter 33 long after I closed my Bible.

In this chapter, we are introduced to an evil king named Manasseh. By evil, I mean he rebuilt all the “high places” designated for worshiping false gods, defiled God’s temple, and even sacrificed his children while practicing divination and witchcraft. Yeah, not exactly a guy I’d want to meet.

While the people followed Manasseh’s detestable practices, God still spoke to them, but they refused to listen. In order to get their attention, God brought the Assyrian army against them, who took Manasseh prisoner and tortured him.

During this experience, Manasseh humbled himself and prayed to God. To my surprised, God listened and allowed Manasseh another chance by bringing him back to Jerusalem. Verse 13 states, “Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.”

He ended up living the rest of his days faithful to God and was buried in an honorary location. The rest of God’s people used the high places as a location to worship God rather than their idols.

Stepping away from this chapter left me with a mix of emotions.

First of all, I was pretty upset by Manasseh’s actions. How could humbling himself be worth a second chance? What about his sacrificed children? Don’t they deserve justice?

I also wondered why Manasseh and the Israelites had to go through so much just to come to the revelation that “the Lord is God”. Was it really worth a battle? Being tortured? Are we as humans so prideful that it takes being brutally harmed before we come to understand who God is?

But then I had to take another step back from the situation and reflect on my involvement in this story. Who am I to say that God shouldn’t given Manasseh another chance? Am I really so much better than him? Sure, I don’t participate in witchcraft or kill people, but I sin every day. I have hurt people with my words and actions. I struggle with pride at times. God isn’t always my first priority, even though I know He should be.

And second, how is it that we can so easily make light of the fact that our Lord (the one who listens to us, plans our lives, and loves us dearly) is God?

Just sit with that for a moment. Tell your fear and anxiety to stand down. Think of all the areas of your life where you feel superior. Remember the everyday miracles that have brought you to where you are today.

The Lord, the one who made us and died for us, is God. He is here right now. He is the one in control. Not us. Never us. But that’s okay — perfect, in fact — because God knows so much more than we ever could.

The next time you read the Bible, which I hope is today, I encourage you to open your heart and ask the Spirit to help you notice and hear what God is pointing out to you through the passage. You may be reading a familiar story or a chapter that’s universally seen as dull. But perhaps it doesn’t have to be. After all, we are reading God’s own word.

And that’s not something to be taken lightly either. In fact, that’s one pretty spectacular gift.

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Hebrews 4:12-13

The Arch of God’s Love

Life is more than a cycle.

So often, life can just feel like a cycle.

Brush, rinse, wash, repeat. Meet-cute, fall in love, break up, repeat. Feel lonely, make friends, get heartbroken, repeat.

Even life itself: Born, struggle, succeed, decline, die, onto the next.

But is that really life?

For the past few years, I’ve been caught up seeing life as a cycle. It’s more draining making friends after knowing how quickly you can lose them. It’s harder to take initiative after being rejected.

Perhaps you can relate. The worst is when you pray, God answers the prayer, and then the thing you feared happens anyway. False hope cuts deeper than no hope at all.

But maybe what we’re feeling isn’t false hope. Maybe we have our hope placed in the outcome more than in who gives us hope.

This week, I was reminded of the story of Elijah and the widow. He meets the widow and her son during a drought when they are preparing their last meal in anticipation of their greatest fear: death. But miraculously, God provides them with enough food to survive!

But then…her son dies anyway.

Arguably, the widow is distressed. Why would God save them just to have her son die shortly after? He’s all she has, or so she thinks. What good is life without him? And what kind of God would allow this?

When we have a pressing need, it’s easy to become obsessed with it. Perhaps it’s a person in our lives who seems like a miracle, just to be taken away from us. Or maybe it’s an opportunity that would bring so much joy, only to fall through. It could even be a physical need, such as a place to live, food on the table, or enough money to make it through the month.

All these things that feel like necessities. That are necessities when living in this world.

When the woman cries out to God, He hears her. Through Elijah, God is able to bring her son back to life. And through this heart-wrenching experience, she can finally proclaim, “Now I know that you (Elijah) are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth” (1 Kings 17:24).

Now. Now I can see. Now I know that You hear me.

It took not a cycle of God’s love coming and going. It took an arch of belief. Starting off helpless, going on a journey towards trusting God fully, and ending with the knowledge that God loves without fail.

Maybe the “son” in your story has already died. Maybe it feels like God was too late.

But I promise that God is using everything in your life to bring you back to His love. Through hardship and heartache, God is right there, protecting you from things you couldn’t even imagine.

God wants you to turn to Him when you feel yourself sinking in despair, loneliness, or confusion. He doesn’t want you to be alone. Through it all, you will never be alone. ❤

For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

Romans 14:7-8