Seth and Family Clean Up
I'm reading my kids The Action Bible before bed, and they are surely putting up a fight, until I begin reading. They listen intently only with the occasional whine or interjection. It's actually quite an interesting account of all things Biblical, and I'm enjoying it. Last night we read the story of Noah, and just a little bit about Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve. My kids kill me. Man, they love to complain about reading the Bible. Get over it folks! This is happening. (Of course I pray while they whine and ask God to please quiet them down before I get too mad to begin reading. Three kids crying is like 700 bees attacking my brain.) Back to Seth. . .
According to many ancient texts, Adam was around one hundred and thirty years old when Eve gave birth to Seth. This is long after they were banished from the Garden of Eden and their first born son Cain killed his brother Abel. Seth was born after his parents grieved the loss of paradise on Earth and community with God, the death of their second born child, and the great pain of their son Cain doing something so utterly horrible that he too had to leave home.
Adam and Eve were literally the worst people on the planet, the only people on the planet, and they knew great sorrow.
What a world full of heartache to be born into. I can't imagine, but also what hope that child must have brought to two parents so entrenched in grief. Another chance at redemption. God gave them a gift in Seth. They must have been scared to death that they would mess him up too, but it seems he turned out ok.
In a nutshell, Islam, Judaism and Christianity trace the genealogy of mankind back to Seth. Lebanon and Palestine both claim to house his tomb. There are religions based around this guy. He is considered a prophet, and a great man of God. He made his parents proud. Although if it's anything like my family, as long as he didn't murder anyone, he was doing pretty well according to his parents. I digress. . .
You've got to admit, even if you view the Bible as an ancient book of fairy tales, it's got some truly remarkable stories in it to be thousands of years old. The fact that I can relate to the shame, the hurt, the disgust, the loss, the hope and redemption of what this great book claims to be the first family on Earth, is undeniably amazing. God is incredible, you naysayers!!!
Returning to my point of this blog. . .which has somehow been lost in translation from brain to computer . . .
You are not alone and neither am I. We are not alone in this life that leads me to my knees with gut wrenching cries full of family pain, or life pain, or child pain, or marriage pain, or work pain.
I'm sick and tired of being stressed, but the hits are going to keep coming. Life is a series of hits. Either we pick up our shield, choose to heal, to move forward, to find our peace in the Lord, or we will just break down and never get back up. There is pain in the growth process. There is a goodness in being broken, but it's time to fight forward.
One thing that drives me crazy about people is that we don't have the confidence to own the fact that we all need help. We ALL need help. There is no one who does not share in affliction. There is no perfection on this earth. Even plastic surgery leaves scars, folks. Stop comparing yourself to an idea.
And so I say, GET UP! Grieve yes, but get up. Reach out and gain in wisdom and strength. This life is tough, but it can be good.
Since the beginning of time there has been great pain and confusion. God knows all about it. Kind of makes me mad at Him for allowing it, but He is much more wise than I. He is the lifter of my head. He gives me a peaceful hope in the midst of my trials and brings me closer to who I am designed to be. Don't be discouraged. Don't allow a root of bitterness to grow in your heart towards your family members, even if your family situation follows the plot line of an episode of Bloodline. Or all of the episodes for that matter (truth hurts).
Seth probably had a lot to say to his parents about their horrible choices that cost the rest of mankind a life in paradise. Or maybe he saw their pain, their grief, and decided to be a vessel of newness of life and hope, and to bring them joy instead.
I choose joy, folks.
After a morning of tears, let's be thankful to God.
Hallelujah, I am saved.
Here are a couple of verses just for you.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope
Isaiah 42:16 And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into the level groud. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.
Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
2 Corinthians 4:8-9 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.
every event in life, - no matter the sunshine or rain, is part of God's answer to your request to be like Jesus. Its His "ok, I can do that". So, off we go. It is our expectations and "entitlement" that brings the grief. Not God.
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