BLOG
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RhPKnhaDFw&w=640&h=360]
Check out the Washington Cathedral website for more sermons, information on how you can get involved, and more on all of the good things that God can do in your life.
 |
Our Music Director, Rhonda Jones, wrote this short devotional on the ridiculous faith of Noah. He stood out because he lived his life to please the Lord. Because of his faith, God gave him a seemingly ridiculous mission. Yet Noah continued to stay strong in his faith even when he was mocked for his unrelenting trust in the Lord. |
This morning as I was driving to work I heard a pastor on the radio sharing about Noah. Now, we’ve all heard the Bible story and within the past few years. We've maybe even watched a comedic movie about Noah and his willingness to obey God at all costs - especially after being mocked by his peers (for inordinate amounts of facial hair and his unethical biblical dress code).But did you realize Noah worked on the ark after receiving a vision from God…and that is took him 120 years to complete the building of the ark? 120 years! A flood of questions ran through my mind:
Noah stood out among everyone else because his life pleased the Lord…enough that God thought of a way to save the human race and keep a few copies on hand of each of the animals (anything that could breathe air) for procreation. I don’t think God wanted to have to create a whole new earth again. It hadn’t been that long since He’d put it all together in the first place (at least it seems that way-the story of Noah takes place in the 6th chapter of the very first book of the Old Testament).
And in the beginning of Genesis it says that God saw what He had made and it was very good (Genesis 1:31)! No wonder God's heart was sick…He longed for the fellowship of the human race and only one man and his family even acknowledged His existence! Everyone else was too involved in their sin to see the heart of God. Oh, my soul yearns to see the heart of God, doesn’t yours?
“Lord, give me the courage and wisdom to pick up the nails and hammer and begin to build the things in my life that need creating or rebuilding. Remove the rusty nails that have become embedded in my heart and give me a refreshing that can only come from touching the heart of Jesus. I love You and want to be the best me I can be for this Great Caring Network as you continue to build up this moving, living, breathing body of Christ. Amen.”
| All kidding aside, Noah was an amazing man. God was ready to do away with the entire human race. It says in Genesis 6:6 that the Lord’s heart was filled with pain because of man’s desire to sin. Our God is so righteous He can’t be in the presence of sin…our sin makes Him sick in His heart. In thinking it over, I don’t want my behavior to make the Lord’s heart sick. I’d rather He “dance over me or sing over me” (read Zephaniah 3:17-18) because what He sees is pleasing in His sight. |
“No wonder God's heart was sick…He longed for the fellowship of the human race and only one man and his family even acknowledged His existence! |
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2lbjlNIeaM&w=640&h=360]
|
|
We all want to know God's plan for our lives, but sometimes God's plan doesn't feel very close to our lives. This week, pastor Ben showed that it just takes is a small change in perspective to be able to see it. |
The story of Naaman and Elisha shows us that God's providence is always near, usually closer than we realize. God had used Naaman to liberate Israel from the wicked king, Ahab. Later, when Naaman fell ill with leperousy, God used a servant girl in his house bring him to Elisha; he sent another servant boy to show him the wisdom in the Elisha's words; and the Elisha himself made Naaman go through the steps to be ritually clean so that he could worship God.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgReHzi1wC4&w=640&h=480]
God was evident in so many ways that Naaman couldn't see:
Naaman expected to be healed from a disease, but he left having been cleansed so that he could worship God. Elisha was a great prophet, but even Elisha wasn't willing to speak to Naaman, much less touch him. Jesus shows us a better way. Jesus was willing to touch lepers and remind them of their human dignity.
Jesus heals us, but he also cleanses us. It is through Jesus that we're able to find wholeness and comfort, but it is also through Jesus that we become cleansed of our emotional filth and our past wrongs so that we can come to God freely. We know that we are loved by God because Jesus says that we are forgiven.
God's plan is underneath every little piece of our lives, the problem is that we can't see it most of the time. Just like rebar is to construction, God's plan is there underneath the surface, holding us together and making us stronger. It is God's providence that makes us capable of the great things that we do in our lives; it's also the thing holding keeping us from falling apart when our world goes bad.
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/95818768" params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true" width="100%" height="120" iframe="true" /]
So what do we do when God's plan isn't as clear?
Listen to someone from that you don't normally listen to. Maybe your kids. Maybe your spouse.
Tell the rumor! Share about what God has done. Share on facebook, in your work, to your family.
Take a day off to pray and ask God what his mission for your life might be.
Like what you see but want more? Check out Washington Cathedral's website for more information.
