Oh, that title? Yes, I just finished watching Attack On Titan… and yes, I think there are things to talk about after that whole rollercoaster of stories and background stories. More on that soon, hopefully.
Without going into too much detail, here’s what I have going on, what I have on my mind right now.
Although I’m placing more emphasis, or at least I’m able to extract more words about the ‘famine’ part of my claim to affirm what Christ said in Matthew 24 regarding ‘famine and earthquakes’, today it seems I’m seeing a little bit more of those ‘earthquakes’: That is, shaking. Moving of things. I guess it’s safe to say now that I’m not necessarily in the financially comfortable place I was, oh, 5-8 years ago. And what’s bothering me right now is that while I’m running out of finances, it appears that I’m taking in more responsibility. The circumstances I find myself in at present have me prioritizing my family and loved ones more than my own desires.
Which leads me to think, do responsibilities always have to be separate from desire? It feels like my entire being right now is trying to say a resounding NO to this, by way of at least two approaches, or, three:
- Simplifying my responsibilities by way of whittling the unnecessary verbiage away, and leaving simple tasks in mind, easy to remember.
- Revisiting my desires: This means closing tabs and unsubscribing from emails. It also means spending less time in distraction (social media), or at least regulating it (scheduling and timing gaming and series); Also means simplifying.
And I’m thinking, once these two are done to my satisfaction, it gives me an easier time to
- Reconcile my responsibilities and desires, so I do what I want, wanting what I do, all the while ensuring that all bases are covered.
I’m saying now that I am aware that though this plan looks good written down, it’s still, admittedly, impossible. Conflicts will arise from within and from outside, confusion and distraction will try just as relentlessly to throw me off track, and who knows what else can happen in this reality; But I will say, it’s at least a start, as I live out what I know to be the man God wants me to be: That is, to have a solid purpose and plan, and, more importantly, to truly trust in the Lord in all of it.
This really is a year of trust.
On another note (or who knows, this may all be related) I’ve been catching up on my reading as prescribed by the folks who publish Our Daily Bread. I know I said previously that I thought it easier for me to just read through what I need to read and write my reactions afterward… and I think I sort of did that, but there appears to be some parts of Scripture that I simply couldn’t just let pass.
For instance, I’m brought to the attention of the sad life of Lot. Go through Genesis and see the sad life we see him live. After being given first choice of land he would possess separate from Abraham, he got caught up in the conflicts between the kings that dwelled there, and had to be rescued. He needed to be rescued a second time when he was trying to protect his guests from being abused by the mob. And see, he went as far as offering his two virgin daughters to the mob, knowing what they were capable of doing… and in some of the final records we have of his life, we read that these said daughters got him drunk for him to get them pregnant; their children would turn out to be tribes who were enemies of Israel.
I’m not trying to pin the blame on him as much as I could, but there are some things that come into mind regarding his way of thinking – prioritizing, to be precise – that could or could not have contributed to his conditions and circumstances.
First , when Lot was confronted by Abraham (then Abram) regarding their flocks and the ensuing conflict, the Word says that when they were choosing where to head to, he chose to the valley that ‘was well watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD’ (Genesis 13:10) – he may or may not have been aware that Sodom was part of these lands, and the writer of Genesis made it clear as early as then that the people of this city were ‘wicked, great sinners against the Lord’ (13:13). He prioritized the wealth of the land more than the wickedness of its people.
Second, when Lot and his family were fleeing from the rain of fire and brimstone slamming down on Sodom and Gomorrah that morning (save for his wife who looked back and turned into salt – maybe more on that later on), the angels who did nothing but to protect them all this time – from blinding the mob to telling not only Lot but his family and even his in-laws to flee – gave him the suggestion: “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.” (19:17)
Notice that Lot was told to flee the valley he once made the choice to possess… and even if it was made apparent that its people were not only wicked, but also now a threat to him, he insisted on living in one of the smaller cities. He prioritized his own opinion over what may have been wisdom to keep him way into the future.
The third thing that comes to my attention was already mentioned – Lot’s actions in Sodom would lead one to think that he valued his own life and perhaps maybe even his own reputation, more than his own daughters. Ultimately, we see the sad circumstances that followed – the final records of his life see him fathering the nations who would eventually come against Israel.
In the life of Lot I see that things may happen by our hand and our decisions and what we prioritize, but God’s grace continues to be present, (1) by way of giving us the first choice (as in between him and Abraham), and (2) by not only saving us but telling us where we should go; Unfortunately, if we have a taste of this grace and insist on rejecting counsel in the name of our own ‘wisdom’, we run the risk of not only ruining ourselves, but our children as well.
On the other hand, I am not putting the focus on us here – our focus, no, our TRUST should be in the Lord – not in anything else in creation, or anything we ourselves have created, our trust should ALWAYS be in our Creator, if we want to reap and make any sort of value in this reality.
It’s not to say that we shouldn’t have our desires. Nor am I saying that it’s wrong for us to have our plans, or our priorities. What I’m saying is that in our trusting in the Lord, we understand that these desires and these plans are made under His watch, and it’s HIS will that has been done, is being done, and will be done, no matter what.
With that said, before anything else is desired, planned, prioritized and done this year, we would do well to trust in the Lord by way of acknowledging His name – that is, His character, His honor, and His integrity – in all of it… if only for our thoughts to be established, at the very least.
I’ll say it again: This really is a year of trust. It’s a year where we trust in the Lord in spite of all the shaking, whether our bodies or minds are the ones experiencing it.
Let me cut it off here before I go again. Let’s meditate on this for now, before the next article.
Until then, God bless you.
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#BibleStudy #Christianity #Faith #Reflections #PracticalChristianity #BenefitsOfSalvation #SeasonOfRearranging #FaminesAndEarthquakes #Shaking #2024YearOfTrust #Responsibility #BibleInOneYear #Bible #Genesis #TheTragedyOfLot
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