This morning, as I was reflecting and praying over the Bible passages I'd read today, I realized in a new way how the character of God as our Father is interwoven through the whole Biblical narrative. I'm not sure if I'll say this well, or if Biblical scholars would agree with me, but I want to try to write out my thoughts on this today.
I'm slowly working through Leviticus in my Bible readings right now, and I couldn't help but think today about how detailed many of these directives from God were. It was early enough in Israel's history as a nation that I'm not convinced all of these issues had really been ISSUES yet even, and I began thinking about how and why I give directives like these to my young children. I still have a pretty young family, as my oldest is only 8 now, and I realized that some rules I give to my children are most definitely to keep them safe or to maintain order or even just to protect our provisions for them. However, some of my directives have more to do with establishing identity, our identity as a family and things I hope they will incorporate into who they are as individuals. For example, when I tell them not to walk on the chairs in the kitchen, it is most definitely a safety and order kind of rule, and it feels ridiculous to have to say some of these in the first place, let alone to have to repeat them. Other rules, though, like "we talk to each other respectfully" has far less to do with safety or even order and more to do with values and identity.
I also began thinking about how differently I've found myself relating to my children just from the ages of 0-8. Through their infancy, we took care of everything for them. Any need was met, and any want was met or compassionately consoled. As they moved into their toddler years, we began to encourage them to exercise more control in their lives, but we kept strong, loving boundaries in place whether they liked them or not. Some of the rules at this age seemed utterly ridiculous to have to say out loud. Not licking your shoes, for example, isn't really a rule I still have to teach now, but it was the kind of thing that most definitely comes up with toddlers. Some rules, like required naptimes, were only rules for a short time in their lives, when they needed them. As they have moved into preschool and elementary school ages, more and different heart issues have come up, and they've been allowed more privileges along with their increasing responsibilities and maturity. As they mature, I need to interfere less. At each age and stage, I have acted differently toward them, not because I've been the one changing, but because they are changing.
I've heard many people struggling with how different God seems in the Old Testament compared to how He seems in the New Testament. I've also heard many teachers point out all the similarities between the two to show that God truly is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. However, today, I let myself ponder what the differences might show us. It's not that God has changed. His people have though. The world has been growing up, and so have His people.
At our infancy, God provided for all our needs with a beautiful garden. When we took our first stumble, He picked us up, clothed us (literally), helped us learn our first hard lesson, and began setting the stage for later times. As the world grew up a bit more, He began to define more what it would mean to be a part of His family. The book of Genesis is like our infancy into our toddlerhood. Exodus advanced us further into our toddlerhood. We had to be told things like, "Don't eat that! Yuck!" to keep us safe and healthy. We were also given some directives that simply defined what it meant to be in His family.
As you read through more of the Old Testament, you see the rebellions and the pushing (or completely stepping over) the boundaries by the nation of Israel. You see the Father giving reminders, sending peers to try to reach us with the truth, and finally letting us suffer the natural consequences of our poor decisions when none of the other ways worked...all with the intention of restoring us to our rightful place within the family and setting us on a good path. Eventually, the nation of Israel grew to a place where the Law was KNOWN. It was known and taught and thoroughly a part of the make-up of the community. The world had grown up to a place where communication could travel rapidly to people far and wide. The people had matured enough to come to know the fullness in Jesus, to know grace and truth.
At different ages, we saw God differently. We understood Him differently because there was only so much we could understand. There is still only so much that we can understand! I believe that it was out of His great, Fatherly love for the people He had created that He also has engaged with us differently over the centuries and millenia. God is the same. His people change though.
This is encouraging to me as I move through life myself. There have been times that I have experienced God very differently from other times. There are times when I've looked back and wondered, "If I felt the Spirit moving so powerfully then, but I'm not feeling/seeing that now, how do I get that back? He hasn't changed, so I must have. Maybe I need to fix something or go back to my old ways somehow." I think this can be a worthwhile question to ask. Do I have any sin that is keeping me from closer relationship with God? However, often, I recognize that I wasn't any "better" of a Christian back then, and that realization can leave me feeling discontent, like God's not holding up His end of the deal anymore. Perhaps, though, I'm just growing up. Perhaps, it's that simple. It IS that I've changed, but that doesn't mean that I'm doing anything wrong now, and it certainly doesn't mean that I'm not growing now if I don't see/feel Him working in the same way I felt during growth periods in the past. He is a wise Papa. He knows what I need, when I need it.
I'm not sure that I've grown UP in Him much over the last year, but I think my roots into Him may have sunk deeper. I've weathered some storms and found Him to truly be the Rock. I haven't really learned many new great theological truths recently, but there are some things that I used to know that now I KNOW. I KNOW that God is my Rock. I KNOW that He is the only firm and steady place upon which I can build my life. I KNOW that He will faithfully remain steady despite what is storming around me. He hasn't changed at all, but I have. I suppose as my loving Father, He knows that I need to not just grow straight up all the time, I need to sink my roots deeper and wider into Him too.
I, so often, want to try to control my own spiritual growth. I've been reminded again today that the God who Fathers and matures His people over centuries and millenia can surely be trusted to Father and mature me over my lifetime. I've been shown that changes in my relationship with Him are to be expected because He's maturing me. I am changing, and He knows what I need for each age and stage. Father truly knows best.
I'm slowly working through Leviticus in my Bible readings right now, and I couldn't help but think today about how detailed many of these directives from God were. It was early enough in Israel's history as a nation that I'm not convinced all of these issues had really been ISSUES yet even, and I began thinking about how and why I give directives like these to my young children. I still have a pretty young family, as my oldest is only 8 now, and I realized that some rules I give to my children are most definitely to keep them safe or to maintain order or even just to protect our provisions for them. However, some of my directives have more to do with establishing identity, our identity as a family and things I hope they will incorporate into who they are as individuals. For example, when I tell them not to walk on the chairs in the kitchen, it is most definitely a safety and order kind of rule, and it feels ridiculous to have to say some of these in the first place, let alone to have to repeat them. Other rules, though, like "we talk to each other respectfully" has far less to do with safety or even order and more to do with values and identity.
I also began thinking about how differently I've found myself relating to my children just from the ages of 0-8. Through their infancy, we took care of everything for them. Any need was met, and any want was met or compassionately consoled. As they moved into their toddler years, we began to encourage them to exercise more control in their lives, but we kept strong, loving boundaries in place whether they liked them or not. Some of the rules at this age seemed utterly ridiculous to have to say out loud. Not licking your shoes, for example, isn't really a rule I still have to teach now, but it was the kind of thing that most definitely comes up with toddlers. Some rules, like required naptimes, were only rules for a short time in their lives, when they needed them. As they have moved into preschool and elementary school ages, more and different heart issues have come up, and they've been allowed more privileges along with their increasing responsibilities and maturity. As they mature, I need to interfere less. At each age and stage, I have acted differently toward them, not because I've been the one changing, but because they are changing.
I've heard many people struggling with how different God seems in the Old Testament compared to how He seems in the New Testament. I've also heard many teachers point out all the similarities between the two to show that God truly is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. However, today, I let myself ponder what the differences might show us. It's not that God has changed. His people have though. The world has been growing up, and so have His people.
At our infancy, God provided for all our needs with a beautiful garden. When we took our first stumble, He picked us up, clothed us (literally), helped us learn our first hard lesson, and began setting the stage for later times. As the world grew up a bit more, He began to define more what it would mean to be a part of His family. The book of Genesis is like our infancy into our toddlerhood. Exodus advanced us further into our toddlerhood. We had to be told things like, "Don't eat that! Yuck!" to keep us safe and healthy. We were also given some directives that simply defined what it meant to be in His family.
The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God. You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord." Leviticus 18:1-5"That's not the way WE do it in this family. We do it THIS way. Follow my lead."
As you read through more of the Old Testament, you see the rebellions and the pushing (or completely stepping over) the boundaries by the nation of Israel. You see the Father giving reminders, sending peers to try to reach us with the truth, and finally letting us suffer the natural consequences of our poor decisions when none of the other ways worked...all with the intention of restoring us to our rightful place within the family and setting us on a good path. Eventually, the nation of Israel grew to a place where the Law was KNOWN. It was known and taught and thoroughly a part of the make-up of the community. The world had grown up to a place where communication could travel rapidly to people far and wide. The people had matured enough to come to know the fullness in Jesus, to know grace and truth.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace,which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. (Ephesians 1:3-10)We were advancing through adolescence into adulthood, into our place as heirs. It was time to take our place and understand the mystery of His will through the ages.
At different ages, we saw God differently. We understood Him differently because there was only so much we could understand. There is still only so much that we can understand! I believe that it was out of His great, Fatherly love for the people He had created that He also has engaged with us differently over the centuries and millenia. God is the same. His people change though.
This is encouraging to me as I move through life myself. There have been times that I have experienced God very differently from other times. There are times when I've looked back and wondered, "If I felt the Spirit moving so powerfully then, but I'm not feeling/seeing that now, how do I get that back? He hasn't changed, so I must have. Maybe I need to fix something or go back to my old ways somehow." I think this can be a worthwhile question to ask. Do I have any sin that is keeping me from closer relationship with God? However, often, I recognize that I wasn't any "better" of a Christian back then, and that realization can leave me feeling discontent, like God's not holding up His end of the deal anymore. Perhaps, though, I'm just growing up. Perhaps, it's that simple. It IS that I've changed, but that doesn't mean that I'm doing anything wrong now, and it certainly doesn't mean that I'm not growing now if I don't see/feel Him working in the same way I felt during growth periods in the past. He is a wise Papa. He knows what I need, when I need it.
I'm not sure that I've grown UP in Him much over the last year, but I think my roots into Him may have sunk deeper. I've weathered some storms and found Him to truly be the Rock. I haven't really learned many new great theological truths recently, but there are some things that I used to know that now I KNOW. I KNOW that God is my Rock. I KNOW that He is the only firm and steady place upon which I can build my life. I KNOW that He will faithfully remain steady despite what is storming around me. He hasn't changed at all, but I have. I suppose as my loving Father, He knows that I need to not just grow straight up all the time, I need to sink my roots deeper and wider into Him too.
I, so often, want to try to control my own spiritual growth. I've been reminded again today that the God who Fathers and matures His people over centuries and millenia can surely be trusted to Father and mature me over my lifetime. I've been shown that changes in my relationship with Him are to be expected because He's maturing me. I am changing, and He knows what I need for each age and stage. Father truly knows best.
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