I have often wondered why it seems that God enjoys making what to me could be very short stories long.
Take for instance the fall of man. That could have been wrapped up by generation three. Adam and Eve sin, get kicked out of the garden, have kids, daughter conceives Messiah, Cain kills Him instead of Abel, Messiah rises from the dead, world redeemed, the end!
I am probably skating on very thin theological ice here, but you get my point. I had the privilege of doing a deep dive into Genesis this last year and then continuing some study into certain women’s lives in the Bible. The thing that struck me over and over was how messy and extremely human all of the people’s lives in the Bible were. I think sometimes people think that everyone in the Bible was perfect and it is just a boring book of laws and thou-shalt-nots. Believe me, no soap opera has more drama than the Bible!
The characters take twists and turns that even today are shocking in nature. And just when you think one of them is actually going to do something straightforward like obey God, they go so far off path that only a Holy redeeming God could, and did, bring them back. I have this visual image of their time lines being like a straight line that then veers up into a tangled spaghetti-like knot and then moves forward again.
I have a daughter that likes to use this method of relating stories. She comes up to me, usually when I am obviously busy and begins talking at me…quietly. It takes me a minute or two before I even realize she is there and by then she is well into her v–e–r–y long story about what she had for breakfast! I try to tune in and catch the heart behind her tale. I want her to know that what she has to say is valuable to me.
The same is true about God’s word. He wrote it to us for a purpose. One of my favorite purposes is so we could get to know His heart towards us. And what I see in the Bible is amazing patience for very messy people. People that in so many ways remind me of my own bunny trails and straying from the best path. He showed such mercy and grace and chance after chance for the people in the Bible and I know He still does the same for us today.
I can get impatient in my own life, waiting for what seems a very long time to find out how part of my story ends. I find myself asking God for an answer now, for a shortening of a growing process. He gently reminds me that His timing is perfect and His story-writing is for the best. And so, I nestle down in my Father’s arms, like my children at story time, and read again His short story of, “I love you,” made long in the Bible.
“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promises, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” II Peter 3:8-9
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