Chapter 7
I sometimes ask the Lord if there's anything He'd have me know for the day and open my Bible to just whatever page. Today was one of those days and I landed on 1 Corinthians, Chapter 7.
Chapter 7 is the marriage chapter.
It's applicable because in response to my post yesterday, my pastor encouraged me to read vv 1-8, and 9 if I were so inclined. I did. My problem though isn't with these verses, it comes a verse or two later in vv 10-11, and somewhat in the following verses.
There's this whole command thing. I know, I know, Jesus himself said in Matthew 19:9 that infidelity is grounds for divorce, and we're both guilty as charged. I also know that just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
It's interesting about what Paul has to say in the first verses. A wife for Paul may not have been a good thing. He was in jail a lot. He roamed from town to town. People kept trying to kill him. He was involved in a couple of shipwrecks. A Mrs. Paul would've had a full plate.
That's kind of a worldly view of Paul's life based on the facts in the Bible, but a wife would have slowed him down from doing the Lord's work. Sometimes, though, the Lord Himself slows us down from doing the Lord's work. Paul spent two years in jail in Caesarea because that's where God wanted him. The apostles were often stopped from going this place or that by the Holy Spirit. No where near the category of person as the Apostles, but God sometimes stops people like little ol' me, too.
And that's kind of what led to the post yesterday. On top of the nine billion things going on around here, I was excluded from a class I wanted to take. Not for any other reason than I was the odd man out when it came to scheduling. I was looking forward to it, and it was just that one last thing that set me thinking about things.
Sometimes it would be nice if I had someone to share those kinds of disappointments with. Or to share in the fun of taking stuff from our garden and preparing it for a later date. Or just someone to hold the stupid dustpan while I sweep the crumbs into it. I miss that. And while it was good for Paul to be alone, I don't enjoy it.
I also know it's my own stupid fault in the first place.
I've tried to fix my situation, and I'm reminded that so did Paul and the Lord had to put him in jail for two years to keep him at Caesarea. (one of the Bible programs I listen to mentioned this as the man was talking about going our own way and how God can stop us from doing that). I'm not in jail, but I'm here for a while and I think God must have other things in mind for me than taking this class, because once the first stumbling block to join the class was overcome, another one came. It happens.
I can do all of the things that need to be done around here. I can sweep, mop, iron, and mow a lawn (thank you USAF). I can do my own laundry and cook (thanks, Mom!). If I do a little each day, it's not such a big chore. It's just getting caught up from the big chore or having everything happen at once that makes me realize what a chore it really is to run this joint. A small apartment might keep me from feeling so overwhelmed, but the Good Lord moved heaven and earth to let me keep this house and He's facilitated a remodel of the basement (a blessing in a storm!). But even that reminds me that it would be wonderful to have someone to help me pick out stuff like what kind of paneling, what color of tile, and what paint colors for what room, and what kind of carpet.
And that's why I said what I did. It's sometimes good to be alone, as a friend reminded me yesterday, for a season, and the alone was a necessary part of my transformation I needed to know what this feels like, and I do. And I don't like it. And I wish it was something I wish I could change.
I have tried, but much like the class, at every turn, God has had a different direction for me to go.
Why that is, I do not know, and will never understand. But I know these things have been of God, and the smart money says follow Him. So, I'll remember that this is only for a season, that it'll pass eventually. In the mean time, I'm gonna have those days that remind me that it's not good to be alone, and that hopefully God has other plans than what I see right now.
And later on, I'm gonna bake a couple of cheesecakes, fry chicken wings, and just watch some football.
With the dog.
Chapter 7 is the marriage chapter.
It's applicable because in response to my post yesterday, my pastor encouraged me to read vv 1-8, and 9 if I were so inclined. I did. My problem though isn't with these verses, it comes a verse or two later in vv 10-11, and somewhat in the following verses.
There's this whole command thing. I know, I know, Jesus himself said in Matthew 19:9 that infidelity is grounds for divorce, and we're both guilty as charged. I also know that just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
It's interesting about what Paul has to say in the first verses. A wife for Paul may not have been a good thing. He was in jail a lot. He roamed from town to town. People kept trying to kill him. He was involved in a couple of shipwrecks. A Mrs. Paul would've had a full plate.
That's kind of a worldly view of Paul's life based on the facts in the Bible, but a wife would have slowed him down from doing the Lord's work. Sometimes, though, the Lord Himself slows us down from doing the Lord's work. Paul spent two years in jail in Caesarea because that's where God wanted him. The apostles were often stopped from going this place or that by the Holy Spirit. No where near the category of person as the Apostles, but God sometimes stops people like little ol' me, too.
And that's kind of what led to the post yesterday. On top of the nine billion things going on around here, I was excluded from a class I wanted to take. Not for any other reason than I was the odd man out when it came to scheduling. I was looking forward to it, and it was just that one last thing that set me thinking about things.
Sometimes it would be nice if I had someone to share those kinds of disappointments with. Or to share in the fun of taking stuff from our garden and preparing it for a later date. Or just someone to hold the stupid dustpan while I sweep the crumbs into it. I miss that. And while it was good for Paul to be alone, I don't enjoy it.
I also know it's my own stupid fault in the first place.
I've tried to fix my situation, and I'm reminded that so did Paul and the Lord had to put him in jail for two years to keep him at Caesarea. (one of the Bible programs I listen to mentioned this as the man was talking about going our own way and how God can stop us from doing that). I'm not in jail, but I'm here for a while and I think God must have other things in mind for me than taking this class, because once the first stumbling block to join the class was overcome, another one came. It happens.
I can do all of the things that need to be done around here. I can sweep, mop, iron, and mow a lawn (thank you USAF). I can do my own laundry and cook (thanks, Mom!). If I do a little each day, it's not such a big chore. It's just getting caught up from the big chore or having everything happen at once that makes me realize what a chore it really is to run this joint. A small apartment might keep me from feeling so overwhelmed, but the Good Lord moved heaven and earth to let me keep this house and He's facilitated a remodel of the basement (a blessing in a storm!). But even that reminds me that it would be wonderful to have someone to help me pick out stuff like what kind of paneling, what color of tile, and what paint colors for what room, and what kind of carpet.
And that's why I said what I did. It's sometimes good to be alone, as a friend reminded me yesterday, for a season, and the alone was a necessary part of my transformation I needed to know what this feels like, and I do. And I don't like it. And I wish it was something I wish I could change.
I have tried, but much like the class, at every turn, God has had a different direction for me to go.
Why that is, I do not know, and will never understand. But I know these things have been of God, and the smart money says follow Him. So, I'll remember that this is only for a season, that it'll pass eventually. In the mean time, I'm gonna have those days that remind me that it's not good to be alone, and that hopefully God has other plans than what I see right now.
And later on, I'm gonna bake a couple of cheesecakes, fry chicken wings, and just watch some football.
With the dog.
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