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Thursday, March 29, 2012

Deut 20:1 and Luke 6:8 "Excluded" (March 30)

I am smack dab in the middle of a battle. So, when I hear Deut 20:1 "When you go to war and see horses and chariots---an army way larger than your own, don't be afraid." And my mind immediately goes to our NT reading: "He knew their thoughts." Luke 6:8. God, you know... And yet You say: Don't panic. Don't be frantic. God is with you to fight for you. Deut 20:4. You know. So, what stirs in this frantic mess. A glorious mess. And so I ask the words penned by Dr. Luke in the Beatitudes: Am I poor? Am I hungry? Am I excluded? Am I weeping? He knows my thoughts...

1 comment:

  1. I never noticed the beginning words of the Beatitudes, "And He lifted up his eyes upon His disciples and said Blessed..." I can just see His tender eyes raising from his heart to look into their eyes and feeling the pain they would endure on His account. Blessed are they, blessed are we when we suffer on His account, when we hurt, when we're hungry. He is near, comforting.

    Tomorrow is the anniversary of the day I lost my daddy. He died very unexpectedly on a Good Friday now 40 years ago. In the silly eyes of a 12 year old girl, I thought it was kind of honoring to die on the same day in which our Lord did. Unbelievable that forty years have passed. And I still miss him. I sometimes wonder what life would have been like or even if my mother would still be here, if he had been able to take care of everyone.

    But...God. I know, somehow, God was in the middle of it all. He still is. He's blessed us in our mourning, blessed us with much comfort, protection, provision. I actually felt sheltered as a kid, which could have so not been the case. He saw us through. And still does.

    Blessed are those who mourn...for they shall be comforted.

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