Excuses! Excuses! Excuses!

I always hate it when my mum says, “I don’t want to hear excuses” or “don’t give me excuses.” I probably hate it for the same reason I hate a lot of things—because she’s right!

I’ve been doing this writing marathon for this month—the one that I talked about in my earlier blog entry—and from practically the beginning, I’ve been steadily becoming worse! I’ve snapped, I’ve yelled, I’ve avoided, I’ve complained, and I’ve made excuses. I’ve said that this was a hard month and that I was only rude because of it! And I’ve said that I’ll get around to it—whatever it may be—later, as a NaNoWriMo song says, “after I write another thousand words!” And the worse of it all is that I’ve made NaNoWriMo more important than my God! I’ve stopped listening to Him, I’ve stopped talking to Him, I’ve stopped wanting to hear about Him! And the funny thing is that, throughout my writing, I’ve still felt His influence. I’ve known that I had a practically impossible plot hole, and then, out of the blue, everything has changed—and changed for the better! I’ve several times this month been writing so quickly and then something in the story strikes me as wrong, and then I find myself changing the whole section. I know that I can come up with a story—it takes a while, but I can do it—but I also know that sometimes, I just can’t make it the best or the smoothest of tales. I know that haven’t been trusting in God the way I should, but I have somewhat. And that’s why I think that that is where the verse that says, “trust in the Lord… and He will make your paths straight.” Sometimes it seems like everything is not working out (and not only in writing, I mean) and things just do not seem to have any clear way of going. Those times, I believe, are not any different than the times when God is speaking really clearly. I think one’s heart—or more like, the Holy Spirit speaking to us—knows right away which way is the right way. It’s just our minds and our earthly ideas and our cowardly bodies which are speaking and which we think are just as important as the other voice we here. It’s not so difficult to hear His voice. He says what He wants for us to do often enough!

There’s another thing that my mum says and that most of the time I hate to hear. It’s to serve with a cheerful heart. I hate it when she talks about that! It would be so much easier to just serve, and with whatever attitude I want! So many times in His Word, He talks about obeying His laws and how whoever does that, lives easier and completely enjoys it. Psalms 19:8,

“The precepts of the LORD are right,
   giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
   giving light to the eyes.”

And Psalms 119:32,

“I run in the path of Your commands,
   for You have broadened my understanding.”

And Isaiah 48:18,

“If only you had paid attention to my commands,
   your peace would have been like a river,
   your well-being like the waves of the sea.”

We, as fallen humans, keep on making the mistake of thinking that to put ourselves in His hands, to follow His commandments, would be like a horrible kind of servitude. I do that so much! I even said to God that I would have to put Him aside somewhat, so that I could keep up my word count. But I keep on forgetting that God doesn’t work that way. If you lay Him aside, then He will lay you aside too. But if I had just stayed with Him, listened to Him, talked with Him, then I think that I would not have been such an irritation to my family. I love that middle verse that I quoted, “I run in the paths of Your commands, for You have broadened my understanding.” That is so COOL!!! He really does do that! And it is a joy to follow Him whole heartedly! I know it is a joy! I have, many times, experienced the joys of just being able to fall into His arms, as I find myself confronted with a rushing river of troubles. He carries me through! He straightens my paths.

I think that I have already made a blog entry something on these lines, but I feel that it is a big thing for me to keep in mind. His commandments really do need to be always before me. It makes our lives worth living and a whole lot less painful. I urge you to listen to His Words, to His commandments! They are not as hidden as they may seem. They are a blessing, so let us consider them to be a blessing!

 

Shalom

1 Corinthians 11

 

I’m not at all certain about this verse. I’m sure that many Christian women out there know this verse and have had the same problems as I. Perhaps Paul was referring to the women of Corinth, who were a sinful race and it would be an extra sign of godliness for them to cover their heads. Or maybe, since our culture has changed so much since the writing of that part in the Bible, it would have to mean something else for us now, and not mean that we should cover. Or maybe women should just have long hair—or hair at all!—to fulfill what Paul is asking here in this verse. I don’t know about these questions. I can’t answer them.

But ever since my mother has brought it more and more to my attention, I have wondered. She herself does not cover—at least not very often. But the fact that she took notice of it made me wonder. I looked into it. And that verse really is quite amazingly downright in what it says. 1 Corinthians 11:2-16

“I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you. But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man,and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved. For if a woman does not cover her head, she might as well have her hair cut off; but if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should cover her head.

A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels. Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.

Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice—nor do the churches of God.”

Sorry for quoting all of it… but actually—isn't it interesting that he said so much about it? The Bible doesn’t say much to women in particular—I think mainly because what God says to men, He usually means it for women also—but when He does, I think He really means it. He talks in Timothy about women, and He isn't making it one of those points that you can just glance over and forget. So why is it that this part in Corinthians gets forgotten? I’m not saying that it is a life and death, salvation or Hell situation, but I do think that it shouldn’t be forgotten. And I do think that it should be carefully looked into.

It still don’t know if I should cover, but I have been doing it for some few months. These questions that I stated earlier, I have asked. But most of the time, I have found sufficient answers to make me want to cover, of at least the time being.Firstly, that question asking if Paul was only talking to the Corinthian Church, I found something online that I found to be quite interesting. He pointed out that at the beginning of this book he says,

“Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be His holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

He says right their, in the beginning of this book that he is talking—by the will of God—to “all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He isn’t just talking to the Church in Corinth.

I want to wear my headcovering because God said these words for me too.

And about that question that refers to the difference in culture, well, for one thing, I know that our culture is different. We probably will never get back parts of the culture that Paul lived in. But I believe that some of those things need to come back. That some of those things were made by God for a reason, and that they should therefore be still a part of ours. Like in the family, in the culture of the Bible times, the man was the head of the family—he made the decisions, he lead, and the rest of the family followed. The women, Paul points out, if they believed something different—something that they believed God wanted—then they were to be a gentle witness of God and Christ Jesus. God set up marriage to be a representation of Christ—the Bridegroom—and the Church—His Bride. If a wife dishonors her head, she dishonors what God has set up as a representation of Christ. I want to wear a headcovering because I don’t want to dishonor the representation in my life of Christ.

I read something recently talking about this last question about if hair is the covering. I can’t remember how it was said, but it said something like there were two words used here in this chapter for cover. One, the word that Paul used for covering your head with a veil or a cap or a scarf or a hat, and another word that he uses right at the end that just means that God gave us women hair as her glory, as a blessing, as her natural cover. The word doesn’t mean that it is the definite article, it doesn’t mean that you can use to cover. And the whole point of putting something more than your hair on is to show to the world—and for yourself—that you have a sign of authority over your head, as sign that says to the world, God is covering me. He is protecting me. He is keeping me safe from my sins. I want to cover so that I can remember that God is my cover.

There are plenty more things that I’d like to say about this. I am covering now, but I have really a lot of problems with it. One of the big ones is my pride. I’m sorry if I came down too hard here. I am having a lot of struggles with it, and that usually makes me a bit excitable about things. I don’t know if there is anyone out there who is reading this, but I really would love your prayer on this. I especially need prayer for a gentle spirit when I choose to wear my headcovering.

 

Shalom

"I was blind, but now I see!"

Recently, I've been noticing a pattern in my listening and my reading... the sinful life means blindness. I know that the sinful life is so much worse than that. It is blindness, but it is also lying and hurting and hating and cheating and so many other things. But several times recently, I know that the Lord is pointing out that the sinful life is especially blind. Think about it. I don't know where it was, but there's that verse where it says, "the blind leading the blind." And there is that old favorite song of so many people across the ages, "Amazing Grace."

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see."

And another two songs, more recent this time, "Take Me Higher" by Jars of Clay:

"To where the blind can see the stars

So do you see the stars, do you see the stars?"

And a song from Newsboys, which at the moment I can't remember. But my point is that what happens after you go through the incredible Grace of God, but finally get to see. We, who are Christ followers, can see the stars now! We are saved from our blindness!
And just tonight, I read Isaiah 42:16:

"I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
along unfamiliar paths I will guide them:
I will turn the darkness into light before them
and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do;
I will not forsake them."

I love that last part, "I will not forsake them." But it's creepy the way He follows it up with:

"But those who trust in idols,

who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’
will be turned back in utter shame."

Wow! That is actually really scary, at least for me! Just change that word, "idols", for words like "news anchors", "reality TV people", "American Idol" or characters on my favorite show. I don't have problems with some of those, but I have to admit to some. And they are idols of my eyes. Of what I say I can see, but of which I only know whats on the surface. I do trust in them--far too implicitly!
I think it's time I start to be led on those "unfamiliar paths", and stop pretending I know more through what I already know will deceive me. We are blind; let's let the Lord show us how to see.

Shalom