The Bible is full of episodes of real experiences that people throughout time can relate with.
Sure there are those occasioons that not everyone goes through. As yet I’ve not been needed to take stroll across a sea in a rough and stormy situation. I’ve not lived in a asmall village that was surrounded by armed forces looking to kill me and be able to blind them before getting something for them to eat and drink before sending them home. Those kind of things I can appreciate aren’t the typical every day thing that we relate with.
Even those situations, though, what we can relate with is crisis. We can relate with troubling times and the emotions and thoughts that we go through in crisis. Sure what’s a crisis for someone in suburbia won’t be the same for someone in a rural village relying on the natural resources with little resort to urban facilities. It won’t be the same, but we know crisis.
The Bible is full of crisis episodes with a variety of responses to that crisis. We can relate to a defeatist mentality that looks at the worst. We can relate with the angry scapegoating and finger pointing and interrogating anyone as to why this is happeneing. We can relate with the mournful wishing that things were the way they were and that we hadn’t got ourselves in this mess. We can relate with that.
We can relate with a fierce and stubborn independent approach that will take matters into our own hands and not really care what the instruction was or what anyone thinks. We can relate with the rebellious and defiant approach that might well cost us in the long run, but we need to lash out and let someone know that they will at least get the most aggressive hit we can get before we go down.
We can relate with being in a situation where need the support in the crisis and people leave us hanging. We can relate with being alone at the moment where we needd help the most. We can relate with these things.
What the Bible shares throughout, though, that makes it such a beautiful text is the place of God in those times Indeed it even shows God in that situation. God in a situation of crisis – how does He cope?
In the crisis there is wisdom we can receive from God in His Word. It’s often better to seek it there than rely on our own coping mechanisms.
It’s reassuring to have God’s presence with you in the crisis. It’s good to know there is always a companion who is there for you in the crisis. Take Him up on the opportunity even before the crisis.
(Photo by Josep Castells on Unsplash)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 