mattbraunlin
Member
Returning to Headquarters
The Bible is not always a happy Book. A very large proportion of it (especially in the Old Testament) is overcast with dark clouds of death and violence and God's terrible wrath against sinful humanity.
And it is all crucial to us. Every word. Only terrible fools glut on the pleasant stuff and sweep God's wrath under the rug.
And while I am most certainly a fool, I am not a terrible fool. In recent months I have been facing my fears and venturing into the murky swamps of the Bible's roads less travelled.
I have spent hours listening to Solomon's laments in Ecclesiastes (so much for Kierkegaard being the father of Existentialism). I have spent a great deal of time attempting to make sense of the surreal cataclysms of Revelation. And most recently, I have begun to scratch the surface of the punishing condemnations of the Prophets.
Now.
My purpose here is not to educate you on what I have learned and experienced in these Books. To the contrary, this blurb is meant to teach a very good and positive (and for me, crucial) lesson.
The Bible is indeed rife with very negative stories and messages. But at its cornerstone lie the Gospels. The most beautiful, joyous, comforting triumph of good over evil it is possible to find.
So in a roundabout way, I come to my point:
I really am not sure I could handle God's lonely calling into these heartbreaking tales of misery and disaster, if I didn't have the Gospels to return to.
For the last day or so, I have been reading the first two chapters of Isaiah. The venom with which God expresses his anger against sinful Israel is heavy. Very heavy. It really wears on you, I can assure you of that.
But today, I heard the Spirit telling me, Alright, that's enough for now. Go back to Christ. Enjoy him.
So I went back to Mark, my favourite Gospel, and spent some quality time with my Saviour and Friend. I reminded myself that through his Son, God showed the world that his love is greater than his wrath. That Books like Isaiah and Ecclesiastes are so very important, but no story ever told is greater than the infinite Joy of the Gospels.
I’m a big Skyrim fan. And in that game, as you venture out further and further into the cold plains and mountains, you acquire more stuff. Weapons, armour, potions, all kinds of stuff that you need or can profit from.
But the thing is, that stuff has weight. And as you collect more and more stuff, it gets heavy. And when you reach your limit, you can barely move. You learn to recognize when it's time to make your way back to a city or town and sell your loot for gold, getting all that weight off your back before you venture into a new fortress or cave.
And I can't imagine a better metaphor for what I am talking about. As we grow with him, Jesus will lead us deeper and deeper into the pages of Scripture, and we won't always like what we find. But every new challenge we overcome will bring new wisdom and understanding of who God is. The terrors and triumphs of the past, present and future. Ourselves.
But when things get too heavy, when we start to feel like the frightened sheep we are, we can return to Jesus our Shepherd in the Gospels, for whom the entire Bible was written, and refresh our spirits in his presence.
And no gold could buy the heavenly treasures you will store up.
It is July 8, 2024. Lord, I beg of you, take some of this weight from my back. Forget me no longer. Break your silence, I implore you! Tell the secrets of my life to the world.
Yet your will be done, Lord. Not mine.
The Bible is not always a happy Book. A very large proportion of it (especially in the Old Testament) is overcast with dark clouds of death and violence and God's terrible wrath against sinful humanity.
And it is all crucial to us. Every word. Only terrible fools glut on the pleasant stuff and sweep God's wrath under the rug.
And while I am most certainly a fool, I am not a terrible fool. In recent months I have been facing my fears and venturing into the murky swamps of the Bible's roads less travelled.
I have spent hours listening to Solomon's laments in Ecclesiastes (so much for Kierkegaard being the father of Existentialism). I have spent a great deal of time attempting to make sense of the surreal cataclysms of Revelation. And most recently, I have begun to scratch the surface of the punishing condemnations of the Prophets.
Now.
My purpose here is not to educate you on what I have learned and experienced in these Books. To the contrary, this blurb is meant to teach a very good and positive (and for me, crucial) lesson.
The Bible is indeed rife with very negative stories and messages. But at its cornerstone lie the Gospels. The most beautiful, joyous, comforting triumph of good over evil it is possible to find.
So in a roundabout way, I come to my point:
I really am not sure I could handle God's lonely calling into these heartbreaking tales of misery and disaster, if I didn't have the Gospels to return to.
For the last day or so, I have been reading the first two chapters of Isaiah. The venom with which God expresses his anger against sinful Israel is heavy. Very heavy. It really wears on you, I can assure you of that.
But today, I heard the Spirit telling me, Alright, that's enough for now. Go back to Christ. Enjoy him.
So I went back to Mark, my favourite Gospel, and spent some quality time with my Saviour and Friend. I reminded myself that through his Son, God showed the world that his love is greater than his wrath. That Books like Isaiah and Ecclesiastes are so very important, but no story ever told is greater than the infinite Joy of the Gospels.
I’m a big Skyrim fan. And in that game, as you venture out further and further into the cold plains and mountains, you acquire more stuff. Weapons, armour, potions, all kinds of stuff that you need or can profit from.
But the thing is, that stuff has weight. And as you collect more and more stuff, it gets heavy. And when you reach your limit, you can barely move. You learn to recognize when it's time to make your way back to a city or town and sell your loot for gold, getting all that weight off your back before you venture into a new fortress or cave.
And I can't imagine a better metaphor for what I am talking about. As we grow with him, Jesus will lead us deeper and deeper into the pages of Scripture, and we won't always like what we find. But every new challenge we overcome will bring new wisdom and understanding of who God is. The terrors and triumphs of the past, present and future. Ourselves.
But when things get too heavy, when we start to feel like the frightened sheep we are, we can return to Jesus our Shepherd in the Gospels, for whom the entire Bible was written, and refresh our spirits in his presence.
And no gold could buy the heavenly treasures you will store up.
It is July 8, 2024. Lord, I beg of you, take some of this weight from my back. Forget me no longer. Break your silence, I implore you! Tell the secrets of my life to the world.
Yet your will be done, Lord. Not mine.
