Readings for today: Genesis 26:17-27:46, Matthew 9:1-17, Psalms 10:16-18, Proverbs 3:9-10
Abraham. Sarah. Isaac. Rebekah. Jacob. Leah. Rachel. These are the patriarchs and matriarchs of our faith. Men and women we look up to. Examples of faith. Paragons of virtue. Inspiration for millions. Then we actually sit down and read their stories. The bubble bursts. The image shatters. Off the pedestal they fall. Their families are dysfunctional. Full of deceit and greed and a lust for power. Their relationships are broken. Brother against brother. Wives against husbands. Homes in disarray. Reading their stories causes all kinds of questions, doubts, even fears to arise in our hearts. Who are these people? What’s wrong with them? Why do they make such poor choices? Why does God use them? Why are they God’s chosen people and not someone else? We find ourselves sympathizing with underdogs like Hagar, Ishmael, and Esau. What did they do wrong? Why weren’t they chosen?
Reading the Bible is hard. Reflecting on the Bible even harder. The reality is we all want to keep these stories at arm’s length. We want to externalize these people as if they are not us. As if we do not make the same mistakes every single day. As if our culture is any less evil and immoral. As one friend of mine pointed out recently, moms and dads in our city sell their kids into slavery every single day. We just don’t want to see it. (She works with this population and is an expert in her field.) As much as we look back and want to judge the men and women we read about in the Scriptures, we are no different. We are just as sinful. Just as prideful. Just as prone to jockeying for power, influence, and control. Our relationships are just as broken. We too struggle to forgive. Struggle to reconcile. Struggle to not seek vengeance when we are hurt.
What makes the Bible so hard to read is that it holds a mirror up to our souls. It exposes our depravity even as it tells us stories of the depravity of the mothers and fathers of our faith. It forces us to come to grips with the fact that all of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory and none of us is clean. This drives us to our knees where we do NOT want to be. It drives us to submission. Drives us to surrender. Our only hope is grace. The grace of God. The love of God. The decision God makes to reach down and save us. We don’t like being at the mercy of God. We don’t like being reminded we are not in control of our own destiny. We don’t like the idea that our salvation depends on God’s sovereign choice alone not some fundamental principle of fairness.
Prayerful reflection on these stories is not complete until we turn our questions inward. Who am I? What’s wrong with me? Where do I struggle with sin? Why do I make such poor choices? Part of this process is allowing the Bible to interrogate us as much as we are interrogating it. Allowing the Word of God to question us as much as we may question it. This is the dialogue God seeks with us when we read His Word. What is God after? Submission. Surrender. He wants us to finally bow before Him and open our hands and hearts to receive His grace. Just like Abraham. Sarah. Isaac. Rebekah. Jacob. Leah. Rachel. This is what set them apart. Their faith. Their fundamental belief that God was able to do all He had promised. May you walk in that same faith today!
Readings for tomorrow: Genesis 28-29, Matthew 9:18-38, Psalm 11, Proverbs 3:11-12