Bible Stories are funny!\u00a0 I would have loved to have been there to watch as they actually happened.<\/p>\n
I think the story of Zacchaeus is humorous, a dignified man hanging onto a tree to get a glimpse of Jesus.\u00a0 How about Jonah being vomited out of a large fish?\u00a0 (It doesn\u2019t say whale in the Bible.)\u00a0 That would have been a great time to be hanging around the beach.\u00a0 What is proper first aid to a vomit victim?\u00a0 The one I really enjoy is Balaam\u2019s talking donkey.\u00a0 Not only does the donkey talk, his argument and logic were better than Balaam\u2019s.\u00a0 That story is not only funny, but it provides hope to all of us who purport to speak on God\u2019s behalf.\u00a0 Even a donkey can be used!<\/p>\n
Yet Bible stories are more than just stories.\u00a0 I\u2019m afraid that years of Sunday School lessons have inoculated us from the reality that these were real people.\u00a0 They had hopes and dreams, fears and loved ones.\u00a0 These are not fairy tales but real accounts of God working in people\u2019s lives and how they responded to Him.<\/p>\n
The account of Joseph is one of the more compelling in scripture.\u00a0 It is a rags-to-riches, root for the underdog, the good guy wins in the end epic.\u00a0 There is high drama, danger, sex, revenge, violence and most of the other stuff we see on our TV screens each evening.\u00a0 Joseph has long been a hero because he stayed faithful to God in spite of all he went through.\u00a0 He is exalted in the end and in some ways is a type of Jesus the Messiah.\u00a0 Yet Joseph was clueless about what God was doing.<\/p>\n
Joseph was faithful not so he could be number two in Egypt.\u00a0 He knew nothing of that.\u00a0 He was faithful because that is what God required and expected.\u00a0 Because he was faithful, God could bless him and promote him.<\/p>\n
It is easy to miss the point for our lives.\u00a0 God wants us to be faithful.\u00a0 You won\u2019t rule Egypt, probably not even your neighborhood organization, but you will be exalted in God’s eyes.\u00a0 As in Joseph\u2019s story, there will be a time for each of us when everything is made known.<\/p>\n
I bet Joseph\u2019s brothers’ eyes bulged when they realized who he was.\u00a0 They probably strained to see, could it be him.\u00a0 They were happy, sad, afraid and relieved all at the same time.\u00a0 What they meant for harm, God used for good.<\/p>\n
I would have loved to have seen that!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bible Stories are funny!\u00a0 I would have loved to have been there to watch as they actually happened. I think the story of Zacchaeus is humorous, a dignified man hanging onto a tree to get a glimpse of Jesus.\u00a0 How about Jonah being vomited out of a large fish?\u00a0 (It doesn\u2019t say whale in the … Continue reading What is God Doing While You’re Being You?<\/span>