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36 CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX “To will one thing”: Section 18 (continued)

 Exploring challenging passages and ideas (continued)

It seems unbelievable that, after seeing so many miracles and amazing things, the people of Israel, the disciples, John the Baptist, and even his mother, Mary, would ever doubt or forget what they’d seen and question or turn away. But then I reflect on my own ability to be overwhelmed by God or something else in my life, and then, shockingly soon after, doubt whether it had really happened that way, or forget or become deadened to the awe. And I think that’s not just me, but human nature. So not only does something like that happening over and over in the Bible (which at first seems unbelievable and not credible) upon reflection, seem like not a contradiction and reason for unbelief, it instead it seems insightful and lends credibility. We all have the tendency to forget our gratitude and awe, and ask “what have you done for me lately?”

This can definitely happen from generation to generation, with inspiration being lost from one generation to the next, but even for individual people within their lives. Witness the Israelites leaving Egypt having miracle after miracle but still doubting God and complaining, Moses, who was not allowed to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land because of his unbelief (even after all he witnessed!!), and Solomon, who began his life so dedicated, and then became disillusioned and lost his way. Gideon, famed for trusting God and leading just 300 into battle and triumphing against thousands, then made a golden ephod and worshiped it as an idol. If this happens to people with inspiration that came from God and did great things, you should expect it will happen in relation to any gratitude people feel towards you—and you will do it too. It seems a really accurate, if unfortunate, aspect of human nature.


I believe that much of the language and many actions in the Bible were meant to communicate to humans things that we could not comprehend if they were communicated as they really are—and actions were taken that could make sense to us but may not otherwise have been necessary. Again, Jesus actually says some places and gives hints other places that his language and actions were at least at times in code. What if part of the reason he had to die on the cross was to communicate to us in language we would understand? That we understood the concept of sacrifices (which God had given us but also existed in other cultures) and so that is how he spoke. The challenge of communication reminds me of a story Paul Harvey once told about a man who decided not to go to church with his family one snowy Christmas eve because the incarnation didn’t make any sense to him. As the weather turned worse, he ended up trying to help a flock of birds move into shelter, but couldn’t figure out how to communicate with them. And then it hit him—if only he could become one of them, he could lead them to safety. And suddenly, the incarnation made sense to him as God’s desire to communicate with us.

God is both cosmic (creator of all, omnipresent, and all powerful) and personal (much more on this below, but as an example, Jesus told Nathaniel “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”) Though the name he gave Moses to call him, “I am,” is brief, the two words tell us that he is both personal (“I”) and exists eternally (“am”).

(to be continued in subsequent posts)

Sections in this chapter:

  • The heart of faith
  • The core message and goal for your life
  • Seeking to trust God and become more like Jesus
  • Knowing your role—and God’s
  • Fruit of the Spirit
  • Managing our priorities and our praise
  • Identity, the creeds, and unity
  • The struggle of finding and holding faith
  • Faith must be our own
  • Levels and types of faith
  • Faith vs. knowledge
  • Faith and the Law and Works
  • Free Will and The Fall
  • Seeking to understand the Bible and life through discernment
  • The challenge of discernment
  • Handling different discernments
  • "Our own words"
  • Exploring challenging passages and ideas (which includes many posts)
  • The importance of prayer
  • Personal reflections
  • The importance of living the life
  • It’s not too late

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