Still in Paris this week - with such an action packed, busy week it's been so hard to keep up with the readings! I'm a few days behind, hence being a bit quiet on the blog front. I was feeling a bit guilty about this and totally thought God was angry... so I've been listening to God in the quiet moments on the Parisien underground (do quiet moments exist there!?!) and thought this was good to share...
God loves us! He really does love us! Whilst we definitely need regular spiritual encouragement and input from the Bible, God isn't angry or annoyed if we miss a few days of our journal readings! Nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8v38-39), not even a missed Bible reading. We might miss out on something important God wants to say but it does not separate us from His love. Not that I'm encouraging time out from reading the Bible or from prayer, but God is so graceful. I've often thought of God as a big ogre in the sky pointing the finger at me and totally annoyed at my behaviour and lack of dedication to His Word. But these few missed days have proven the opposite. I am saved by grace, not by works. I am saved through the amazing work of Jesus on the cross and my acceptance of this, not through how many times a week I read the Bible.
In addition to this, not only have I simply not had the time or energy to spend time pouring over the scriptures this week, but I need a break! I am tired and worn out. Any offerings I have to give would just be like a clanging symbol - I would be worshipping out of duty rather than deep and meaningful praise! My mandate this week is to love and care for the boys in my care on this school trip, and to be loving and accepting towards my host family. My energies are poured into this, this week. This is my praise and worship. Finding an extra half hour a day on top of my 15 hour days is just exhausting and not helpful to me one bit. Again, I want to emphasise that reading the Bible is paramount. Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word (Matthew 4v4). I need the word. But God is so gracious that He doesn't count up and hold against us the amount of days we fail to open our Bibles. Again, we are saved by grace not works. What good would it be to me or to the school children and my colleagues if I had been up pouring over the word, yet failed to love them? This thought led me to this passage which I love...
Isaiah 58v6-11
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter —
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness[a] will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
Now I know this is slightly different, but you get the idea. What good are we if we tick off every reading in the journal, yet fail to love one another? What good are we if we spend all our time 'doing religion' rather than living out grace and love? How can we say we are followers of Christ if our faith is one of religious duty, not true worship of our Dad!? Please hear my heart. I need the Word so much. I feel dry and drained without it. I am not advocating not reading the word, I am just saying that God understands that at times we need time out for whatever reason (time to reflect, personal circumstances, travel, fatigue...) I desperately want my faith to be real, not dutiful or because of religion. And God is happy with me, despite my imperfections and 3 missed days of readings. He is happy with you. Yes there are definitely times and seasons when we do need to 'mechanically' do things and 'robotically' or 'habitually' live out our faith due to difficulties, troubles, doubt and so forth. But there are times when I simply refuse to be religious about my faith, and God understands. He really does.
I really love the 'bold' verses in the passage I have highlighted. I really feel that often there can be times when we can think of faith as oppressive. I have personally often felt chained up by my faith and stuck in a rut full of do's and don'ts. It is at times like these that I need to reevaluate and remove the yoke of oppression so that I can be free in my faith - not tied up by it. Am I making sense here? It is for freedom that God set us free! (Galatians 5v1), not so that we can form a tick box, 'I've done my reading today' type of religion. Let's stop being religious and start being faithful. Like I've said, please hear my heart today.
And when I get a minute I will catch up with 2 Samuel :)
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