A story to tell
Lately the blog posts have been short. There's a reason for that. There are stories but some are just for keeping to yourself. Today's though, maybe not so much because it's such a reflection on sin and our broken world.
I was ill last night. I still am. It's a chemically induced illness caused by a lung function test in which the administration of an inhalant to yours truly was on the menu. Yours truly did not have a positive reaction to said inhalant and I'm still feeling it today. I just need to get through the next three days and there will be time to recover.
Anyway, that explains why I was home last night to hear the radio program I did, and in it the man was talking about reading a book on raising children and being asked by his daughter why the Bible wasn't all the book he needed? The man described that revelation by using an illustration from the old "Skin Bracer" commercials where a man after shaving gets slapped in the face and says, "Thanks, I needed that." Last night I was searching for answers to something and decided I'd read my devotional for that day in that Bible, which, yes, used the same illustration to make a different point.
Sometimes we need that slap. Mine kind of came today and you have to read the rest of the story to figure out what that slap was.
There are many viewpoints on marriage-divorce-remarriage in the Christian faith. I was researching these to see how to apply God's Truth to me and my life (in light of a story Miss June told me about the ex and her claiming to some Mormon missionaries that the Bible is God's Truth). There's the thought that no matter what, you should divorce whoever you're married to and reconcile to your first wife. There's the thought that there is that exception for adultery which we're both guilty of, so in that light, remarriage is possible, but all attempts at staying married should be exhausted (which should explain a lot!). There's another school of thought that says if you're divorced then you should remain single or reconcile. I mean there's an opinion on this from just about everyone.
My problems are these: My first wife was my first wife, but I was her second husband. There goes theory #1 for me. The shoe was on the other foot for my second wife; I was her first husband, she was my second wife. Wife #3 and I were together while we were still legally married to our former spouses and lived in sin long before we got married. Then we separated, tried to reconcile, and separated again, and we're both guilty of adultery against each other. We are now divorced.
This sin business gets messy and because of how our society views marriage and divorce these days, it's a messy picture for anybody over forty. And then the answer hit me:
They're all right. The Bible says what it says and it means what it means. And there's no way around what sin has done to the marriage relationship, not just in my life, but in all our lives. God has laid out some pretty clear rules for marriage and we're expected to follow them. In my case, and in many others, there are sins that are committed when we didn't know or understand God's word. It's no excuse, but it's also grace.
There are costs for our sins. I know that all too well, but I also know I love and fear a God of grace and that's the element I forgot to look for in all of this. God's grace.
God will deal with me individually. I don't need someone else's opinion to show me what his stance on marriage is. If he's willing to allow me a chance at redemption for the sins of the past, what I do with that chance is what counts. I cannot repeat the mistakes I've made and expect God to bless me. So I try to keep my side of the street clean. I'm seeking God's will instead of my own these days and there are opportunities.
I was put in a position the other day where I was asked by someone to forgive the very same things I'd asked someone else to forgive me for and was told no. I chose a different path and time will tell if things will work out. I'm praying for and receiving guidance and trying to make the best understanding of it as I can.
We all need a little grace sometimes. I can't say I'm a Christian and not forgive what I want to be forgiven for. If it's true, then all of it's true, and what we do with the Truth as we accept it as Truth I think says a lot about who we are and what we really believe. It's easy to say it's Truth, but what counts is how we live it. There isn't a Mrs. Cooper this very minute because I had to accept God's Truth as that. Truth also includes grace and repentance. Grace does not mean an absence of consequences, though, and I'm well aware of that, too.
I was ill last night. I still am. It's a chemically induced illness caused by a lung function test in which the administration of an inhalant to yours truly was on the menu. Yours truly did not have a positive reaction to said inhalant and I'm still feeling it today. I just need to get through the next three days and there will be time to recover.
Anyway, that explains why I was home last night to hear the radio program I did, and in it the man was talking about reading a book on raising children and being asked by his daughter why the Bible wasn't all the book he needed? The man described that revelation by using an illustration from the old "Skin Bracer" commercials where a man after shaving gets slapped in the face and says, "Thanks, I needed that." Last night I was searching for answers to something and decided I'd read my devotional for that day in that Bible, which, yes, used the same illustration to make a different point.
Sometimes we need that slap. Mine kind of came today and you have to read the rest of the story to figure out what that slap was.
There are many viewpoints on marriage-divorce-remarriage in the Christian faith. I was researching these to see how to apply God's Truth to me and my life (in light of a story Miss June told me about the ex and her claiming to some Mormon missionaries that the Bible is God's Truth). There's the thought that no matter what, you should divorce whoever you're married to and reconcile to your first wife. There's the thought that there is that exception for adultery which we're both guilty of, so in that light, remarriage is possible, but all attempts at staying married should be exhausted (which should explain a lot!). There's another school of thought that says if you're divorced then you should remain single or reconcile. I mean there's an opinion on this from just about everyone.
My problems are these: My first wife was my first wife, but I was her second husband. There goes theory #1 for me. The shoe was on the other foot for my second wife; I was her first husband, she was my second wife. Wife #3 and I were together while we were still legally married to our former spouses and lived in sin long before we got married. Then we separated, tried to reconcile, and separated again, and we're both guilty of adultery against each other. We are now divorced.
This sin business gets messy and because of how our society views marriage and divorce these days, it's a messy picture for anybody over forty. And then the answer hit me:
They're all right. The Bible says what it says and it means what it means. And there's no way around what sin has done to the marriage relationship, not just in my life, but in all our lives. God has laid out some pretty clear rules for marriage and we're expected to follow them. In my case, and in many others, there are sins that are committed when we didn't know or understand God's word. It's no excuse, but it's also grace.
There are costs for our sins. I know that all too well, but I also know I love and fear a God of grace and that's the element I forgot to look for in all of this. God's grace.
God will deal with me individually. I don't need someone else's opinion to show me what his stance on marriage is. If he's willing to allow me a chance at redemption for the sins of the past, what I do with that chance is what counts. I cannot repeat the mistakes I've made and expect God to bless me. So I try to keep my side of the street clean. I'm seeking God's will instead of my own these days and there are opportunities.
I was put in a position the other day where I was asked by someone to forgive the very same things I'd asked someone else to forgive me for and was told no. I chose a different path and time will tell if things will work out. I'm praying for and receiving guidance and trying to make the best understanding of it as I can.
We all need a little grace sometimes. I can't say I'm a Christian and not forgive what I want to be forgiven for. If it's true, then all of it's true, and what we do with the Truth as we accept it as Truth I think says a lot about who we are and what we really believe. It's easy to say it's Truth, but what counts is how we live it. There isn't a Mrs. Cooper this very minute because I had to accept God's Truth as that. Truth also includes grace and repentance. Grace does not mean an absence of consequences, though, and I'm well aware of that, too.
Comments
Post a Comment