Godgrown

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  Mark 8:14 am on March 21, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

  You Meant Evil, God Meant Good 

  Israel has just died – a pinnacle and tragic moment for the story of God’s people. God has brought them into safety, but not without some torment. Specifically, Joseph – Israel’s favorite son, was beaten by his brothers and thrown into a pit. His life as the favorite son was absolutely trounced and upended all in one moment. But he was spared his life. He found his way to the highest place in all Egypt! What a comeback! And then his brothers and father, during a severe famine, made their way to Egypt to seek safety from starvation, where Israel is laid to rest.

  Of course, the brothers are now scared that Joseph will punish them for their abuse and torture of him as a child. But Joseph is not like most younger brothers. He is not like most PEOPLE.  Here’s why:

  All of us have trauma from our past, just like Joseph. And we live it out in our present. I am no different – I react, and recoil from the triggers that go off whenever I am reminded of some painful memory (even if I don’t consciously remember what originally caused the pain.)

  We may know that what we’re doing in reaction to today’s event is disproportionately elevating the importance of today’s event (“You left the socks on the floor AGAIN!!???!?”) We tell ourselves lies about ourselves, (“No one cares about me, just look at those socks on the floor!”) about God, (“What kind of God would create a world where socks are left on the floor!?”) and about those we close to us.

  All of it is drawing on early life experiences, where demons have crept into our fragile, innocent hearts and replaced the truth with lies, clarity with deception.

  But somehow – Joseph was able to overcome all that. It was certainly a trauma for him to be thrown by his own brothers into that pit, but as he faces his brothers in Genesis 50:20 he declares,

  “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

  This is supernatural healing! This is the return from darkness, and into light! Some people in Joseph’s place might have made it out of that pit physically, but mentally and spiritually they allow themselves to remain stuck in that pit for the rest of their lives. To make matters worse, they won’t rest until everyone is in that pit with them!

  My question is: “Are traumas and the resulting “triggers” permanent, or can we overcome them?”

  I have to rely on God’s Word here, and throughout the Bible – we can return from darkness, trauma, pain, and move to light, freedom, and salvation. This is the “working out of our salvation,” the “binding up the strong man,” the Satan speaking lies in our hearts. And yet, if we try to do this salvation work on our own, if we set out to “bind the strong man” we will lose!  We will end in frustration (others had to help Joseph out of his pit, and beyond human intervention, and God was there guiding Joseph forward).

  But maybe the most important part of Joseph’s tale is how he views his own story. He knows that it wasn’t his doing that got him to where he is today, it was “God who meant it for good…” Out of this new narrative, Joseph is able to “speak kindly” to his brothers, the very ones who had plotted his destruction many years ago. Joseph was able to see clearly, while his brothers were still trapped in fear of their brother’s punishment. Joseph saw that God had used a horrific situation and used it to bring hope and healing to many people during a drastic famine.

  Take stock of your memories. Mark my words, they are taking stock of you.

  Take your painful experiences to the LORD, and ask him to give you new lenses through which to view your story!

  It’s the difference of giving hope and life to many others, or sitting stuck in your own pit.

   

  

  Mark Willis is discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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    Mark Willis 8:37 am on March 21, 2012 Permalink

    There is an old Taoist story about a wise man on the northern frontier of China. One day, for no apparent reason, a young man’s horse ran away and was taken by nomads across the border. Everyone tried offer consolation for the man’s ill fortune, but his father, a wise man, said, “What makes you so sure that this is not a blessing?”
    Months later, the horse returned, bringing with her a magnificent stallion. This time everyone was full of congratulations for the son’s good fortune. But now his father said, “What makes you so sure this isn’t a disaster?” Their household was made richer by this fine horse, which the son loved to ride. But one day he fell off the horse and broke his hip. Once again, everyone offered their consolation for his bad luck, but the father said, “What makes you so sure this is not a blessing?”
    A year later the nomads mounted an invasion across the border, and every able-bodied man was required to take up his bow and go into battle. The Chinese frontiersmen lost nine out of ten men. Only because the son was lame did father and son survive to take care of each other. truly, the story reminds us, blessing turns to disaster, and disaster to blessing: The changes have no end, nor can the mystery be fathomed. (Wayne Muller, Sabbath, p.187-88)

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  Mark 9:25 am on January 4, 2012 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Libya, Syria   

  Stay Soft 

     I’m reading Exodus 8 alongside 2 Corinthians 3 today — In Exodus, its the story of the 10 Plagues – exhibiting the hardness of Pharoah’s heart toward letting the Israelites go – he just couldn’t see the obvious evidence right there in front of him – he couldn’t understand that it was him doing the harm to the country!  He was torturing his own people by refusing to listen to to the will of God.

  It reminds me of Libya’s recent dictator, and Syria’s current debacle where the leaders of the country were obviously insane for destroying their own nation.  It was a classic example of the leader becoming obsessed with their own power, and end up eroding that power by trying to hold on to it.  In Pharoah’s case, as in Gaddafi’s and so many others, it led to the end of their very lives.  Power has such compelling, addictive qualities, and trying to relinquish it is eternally difficult.  

  But I am reminded of a “hardness of heart” far more sinister than even Pharaoh’s or Gaddafi’s.

  In 2 Corinthians 3, The hard heart is not in a single person, but an entire nation.  What started with an ecstatic worship experience at Mt. Sinai, where Moses was so close to the glory of God that his face had to be covered with a veil, as it was shining with glory!  Such was God’s glory that the Israelites asked not to be put it it’s presence for fear that they might die.  After all, look what happened to Pharaoh!

     Overtime, however, the hardness of heart creeps in like plaque, undoing the raw, beautiful experiences that brought us to the convictions we hold to today.  The hardness of heart in Israelites case feels more like the ebb and flow of the ocean on the rocks – at first it’s effects are imperceptible, but overtime, it’s power over stone is undeniable.

     In my life, the “hardness” I experience looks more like the Israelites’ picture of the problem, rather than Pharaoh’s.  It is the slow erosion of previous joyful worship experiences, of my earliest convictions, and sense of orientation.  It amounts to a casual walk through the woods- where the paths continue to wind and turn; at first the journey is light and enjoyable, but soon becomes a frightening, disorienting maze without end.

  So!   Hold on to your heart.  Hold on to hope!  Cynicism and doubt are a relentless downpour in our world.  Check your sources of input – do you watch nothing but the news?  Do you read anything but doom-and-gloom?  Then pick up a book of poems!  Pick up the Gospels!     Keeping your heart soft is possibly the most important task on earth, and its a daily habit.

  

  Mark W, and Jay Abels are discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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    Jay Abels 12:33 pm on February 1, 2012 Permalink

    Have you ever wondered why we always call them “The 10 Plagues”?   In the biblical text, they are more often referred to as marvels and wonders.  I think we may identify more with the Egyptian slave holders than we do with the slaves that God freed through the wonders that he did in Egypt.

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    Mark W 1:27 pm on February 1, 2012 Permalink

    Wow, very true!

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  Mark 11:12 am on April 3, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

  Things We all Know 

  Babies are amazing.  They teach us so much about our relationship with God.

  Take for instance, the bonding between a new-born infant and her mother.  A new born’s eyes are not fully developed when they’re first born; they can only see clearly about 12 inches away – everything else is blurry.  Interestingly, that is the distance an infant is away from her mother during breastfeeding.  There is an eye-to-eye connection - a deep love with the one person she can see clearly. This, combined with rooting, an instinct that connects the baby with the one person who can provide for her. Sounds a lot like prayer! Sounds a lot like what God wants for us in our intimate relationship with him, yes?

  It gets even more interesting.

  Babies, within just an hour from birth, already have latent in them the ability to walk. YES – walk.  Hold them up and lightly brush their feet across a flat surface, and they’ll begin to stride forward.  (Funny, they lose the ability to make this movement at about 6 months because of weight and muscle development, but if you half-submerge them in water, they’ll walk just the same.)  We are born as the only bi-pedal mammals; making us much more efficient for long journeys.  God created our bodies for a journey. Our movements are always moving us forward (our knees don’t bend sideways or backwards).

  Mission…journey…intimacy…these things are built right into the fabric of what it means to be human.

  God created us to find him.  We are specifically designed from Day 1 to give us as many chances to connect as possible.  ”Seek the Lord while he can be found.” Isaiah 55:6

  And for those of us who are no longer able to claim the “new born” restaurant discount let this be a lesson for us.  May the instincts and impulses integrated into the fabric of a baby be our instincts with God. An infant, who know nothing of this strange new world he finds himself in – still knows the sound of his mother’s voice, knows who to trust, knows when to cry and who alone can silence his fears.  May this be a moment when we remember that “our feet were made for walking…” – and like a sheep after our shepherd, “…that’s just what they’ll do!”