There Is Help!

Perhaps one of the things that has come out of this pandemic is a surge of questions. So many of us have not known how to navigate through this experience because it was unlike anything we had ever seen before. However, in every generation, in every season in fact there arises situations that can perplex us; yet, what do we do with these times? Do we turn to someone for answers, if so, who?

Don’t you realize it is God you are treating like this? This is crazy; don’t you have any sense of reverence? Isn’t this your father who created you, who made you and gave you a place on Earth? Read up on what happened before you were born; dig into the past, understand your roots. Ask your parents what it was like before you were born; ask the old-ones, they’ll tell you a thing or two. Deuteronomy 32:7 (MSG)

In this passage we see this question presented to the children of Israel by Moses. Things God had shared with him. The Message translation puts it right out there – refusing to listen to God is disrespectful and irreverent. How often we forget our Creator and just what our place on this earth is. We are not the engineer or the driver. Yet, instead of going to the One who has all the answers and His book, we try to figure it out on our own. In fact I read today that nearly 26 million people have stopped reading on interacting with scripture in the past year according to the American Bible Society. Can you imagine that? And these numbers are probably not even telling the whole story, for how many of these 26 million are heads of households who never introduce Bible reading into their families – and hence the children grow upon with no Bible knowledge and certainly no desire to turn to it for answers.

The scripture above suggests something else. What about going to your elders? Longevity in and of itself helps you to learn some things along the way. Yet how many young people turn to their elders for advice? How many feel that the answers they might receive are outdated or lack understanding of the things they are facing? What valuable information are we missing? When we cease to feel that we can learn anything, we cease to grow. Failing to grow means we begin to die. How many of us are experiencing a slow death due to our not finding answers for things that are accessible to us if we ask the right people?

Pride and shame are two relatives who when they come to live with us are hard to get rid of. They cling to our insides and cause us to become paralyzed in our ability to move forward. Today, this could be your day of freedom. Start with God’s Word – there is a wealth of wisdom in every book. If the words are hard to understand, go to someone in your life space – someone older, someone wiser, ask – it could make all the difference in your world!

Maria