Forgiveness

I was in a Christian bookstore recently and noticed that there were a lot of books about forgiveness.  A lot.  Like, a stunning number.  To prove my point I just went to Christianbook.com and searched the keyword "forgiveness."  On my desktop it came up with a staggering 2,264 results, while on my mobile device it came up with but 2,113 results.  (A screenshot for your benefit.  Also, why did I get two different numbers for the mobile/desktop searches?  I don't understand anything.)

Then I searched for other things on CBD like joy and peace and came up with multiple thousands, but words like kindness only got 600+ hits, and it seems like if more books were on kindness, less books would have to be about forgiveness, you feel me?

(Now, I'm not saying that this is indicative of the human problem, this whole rash of books on forgiveness.  Because you know what else you can find by the thousand at Christian bookstores?  Books about Amish people.  And I don't think that really means anything except that old ladies are the biggest consumer of fiction.)

But I didn't buy any of those billions of books on forgiveness.  Why?  (Well, I'm poor, probably.)  Because the most beautiful thing I've read recently about forgiveness is contained in this blog post, which was written by a remarkable young lady I know who faced so much and yet forgave anyhow.  I don't need those billions of books (okay, 2,113 books) to tell me the ins and outs of forgiveness.  I see it in this young lady, every time I see her, because grace truly characterizes her.  Because I see the fruits of the spirit in her and it's an example to me.  Because she is an example to all believers, and I'm so thankful to have the chance to see that in her.

If you get a minute, check out her story.  It's worth the read.

Things that terrify me

1)  When a tree has a blight and the leaves have those terrible bumps.  I literally can't stand to look at that.  It makes me want to just... run away or something.  Honestly, it's terrifying.

2)  When you realize that a situation is dangerous.  You know the one.  An angry car is tailing you, and the driver might just ram you off the road.  For their own personal enjoyment.  At the expense of your life.

3)  Change.  There is nothing quite like realizing that everything is out of your control, and only the Lord knows what is happening.  I know it's reassuring to know that HE knows, but the fact that I don't know terrifies me.

4)  Being outside of the Lord's will.  Because sometimes I do things that seem to make sense at the time, and then I realize that I'm just making it up as I go along.

5)  This point removed.  Just because.

6)  That moment when your heart stops because you think you heard some terrible news but actually you just have a hearing problem and everything is fine.  I like the everything-is-fine part, but the wait-WHAT? moment freaks me out.

7)  Myself.  I'm happy that the old man is dead and all that, but I'm still firmly attached to my flesh.  Sort of wish I weren't.  I hate that I'm capable of so much sin.  I'm not trying to be dramatic, but seriously, the flesh ruins a lot of stuff.  Stupid free will...

8)  The realization that I've made no significant headway in life.  And after 2+ decades I probably know less about what I want to do with my life than when I had just a few years of life under my belt.  When I was young, it all made sense.  Then I grew up and realized that my plans mean nothing whatsoever.

All in all, it's a good thing that God hasn't given me a spirit of fear.  Also, that He's given me a sound mind.  Otherwise, I would let all this stuff get to my head.  Especially that leaf thing.  Seriously...

Be thou an example

My younger sister is learning how to drive.  Which is a good thing for her, and the rest of us, because extra drivers are always useful.  But I've noticed something about myself recently.  Not that she practices her driving with me or anything (I don't have the iron constitution required for coaching new drivers), but when she's been in the car with me as of late I find myself being much more careful about how I drive.

Not that I'm a terrible driver (others may have different opinions...) but rather that I find myself with my hands in the 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock positions, and silently mutter "hand over hand" when turning corners.  Stop bars see such complete stops they're probably confused, and I try not to just hang my arm out of the window, as per my usual preference.

Which made me start thinking about that verse in Timothy about being an example.  As Christians we're supposed to be an example to the world of what a follower of Christ is, but also an example among Christians as well.  And does being an example help us keep ourselves on track, so to speak?  By consciously remembering and choosing to show others what it is to live for Christ, does our life benefit?  I suppose so, though I'd never thought of it in so many words.  When someone is watching what we do, it seems to make sense that we'd be more cognizant of what we did.

Nothing profound, but I tell you, checking my rear view mirrors with great frequency has made me think about this a little more than I typically might.

Abe's big test

Apparently I’ve always been a pensive one. I spent one whole entire journal entry several years ago wondering something that I still sometimes take time to ponder. Namely, Abraham. I’m just going to type in all the words I wrote, since my thoughts on it haven’t truly changed in the last several years. Actually, they have, but I’ll get to that afterwards.

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I was thinking about Abraham and Isaac. That story seems so unfair to me. And I know, God has His ways, nothing is ‘unfair’ with God, etc. I know the drill. But why, why did God have to test Abraham like that?

God knows everything. God knew that Abraham would go, that the angel would show up, that Abraham would sacrifice the ram instead. God knew all of that! So the point was certainly not that God was wanting to see how far Abraham would go. Did God do it to show Abraham how far he (Abraham) would go? And if so, what was the point?

I can see it now. “Sarah! We’re back! I almost killed Isaac last week, but on the plus side, I know that I trust God and that He rocks!”

“Um, dear, you can’t take any more father-son bonding trips, OK?”

Ahhh, so many questions, so few remaining Bible characters. And when I say ‘so few,’ I mean none.

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Well, I’ve since decided that the Lord does indeed test us just to show us what we can accomplish when we actually dare to trust Him. Also, most of what the Lord puts us through ends up showing out His Glory to those around us in incredible ways. So while I still think that it was crazy times for old Abe to have to go forth and do this, I appreciate it for the strengthened faith that he got, and also for the lesson it teaches us—and the picture it is for us of Christ.

Also, I liked that I had to clarify that no Bible characters have remained to this day. You know, just in case one day I had forgotten that no Ezras or Timothys of Biblical proportions were still wandering around. I’ve got a bad memory, you never know how bad it might get. Best be prepared, that’s my motto.