For some crazy reason I have been talked into reading through the Bible in 90 days. That said, I finished Genesis today.
I have read the Bible through in a year(ish) officially twice before, but both times there was time to ponder, question, research, dig deeper, etc. This time it is all about read and get it done. Not sure I like it that way, but it is one way to do it. Yes, the question could be, "What's the point?" and my only answer is, once again, I cannot say No to Leighann McCoy. With the personal spiritual struggles I am going through right now, you would think reading through the Bible would not be high on my list. I guess that means that despite all the frustration I have right now with God and what He appears to NOT be doing, I have a small (smaller than a pinhead) glimmer of hope that maybe there is something in there for me. A sign, a rope thrown to me, a thread, anything. Each day I simply start out, "Well, God, got anything today?"
Where does Leighann come in to this? Last week when it was presented to us, I laughed to myself and thought, "I can NOT take on one more thing. I can NOT take on another project. I can NOT start yet another thing and fail." At the challenge last week when she was giving us hope to make it sound "not so hard" one of her reasons was, "It's just about 12 pages each day. I can read that much in a fiction book, why not my Bible?" Great, Leighann. Thanks. Hit where it hurts.
I mean, hello? I've been reading my Bible, studying the Bible, done tons of Bible studies, heard every Bible story 1000x, took Bible classes at college ... I'm pretty sure I know just about everything that is in there. Why read it now? What am I going to get that I haven't gotten in the past 45+ years? I even on purpose chose to read through my pretty little Bible with NO ROOM on the sides for notes or comments.
However, on Thursday, Day 1, I did get a pen just in case and started in. Day 1 is Genesis 1 to Genesis 16. And guess what. The pen was used (surprised?). Although most stuff marked was stuff I already knew, it had not been marked in that Bible and, you know, I just thought it should. Ahem. Yeah.
I finished Genesis today. Did I learn anything new? Well, I already knew about Adam and Eve and all that family drama, Noah, the ark, the flood, the tower of Babel, Abraham and Sarah and the baby drama, Isaac, Jacob & Esau and all THAT family drama, Rachel, Leah, the 12 sons and Dinah,(which, despite the trickery involved, I LOVE that her brothers loved her that much) and finally Joseph and that family drama that resulted in Genesis 50:20 "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."
Ok, bone to pick with my current situation. Of course we all know how mean Joseph's brothers were and how much pain Jacob then went through for all those years, thinking Joseph was dead. His heart was torn out from him, because, let's face it, Jacob was the golden child, being the almost baby and Rachel's son. Yet all that time, what happened was for God's greater glory, for the saving of many lives. And yet, and yet, despite all that, bad things happened to good people. You would have thought that somehow God would have provided comfort to Joseph, to give him peace, knowing it was part of His plan. But there is no mention of that.
Does that mean that in my pit, my valley, my place where I need God to work so desperately, that God is doing greater things than what I think needs to be fixed? How can it be? How can it be?
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