Encouragement

An Awe Inspiring Story

by Bridget Howe
12/24/18
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I learned how to paint because I was spending time with a young woman who had cerebral palsy. She would bring watercolors to the workshop with her every day. So, to have some interaction time with her, I would put a piece of newsprint on the table between the two of us and we would use her watercolors to doodle on the newsprint. I wasn’t an artist, but I liked what we were doing because it was so relaxing. So I bought myself some watercolor, and eventually, I graduated to oil paints and canvases.

So God likes to spend some interaction time with me when I am painting and he teaches me things. One of the things he showed me is really awe-inspiring. You see, when I want to paint a tree, or a brook or something in nature, I don’t have to worry about it being perfect. Trees are not perfectly shaped and their branches are crooked and uneven. Painting water is easy. You just paint everything upside down. If, however, I want to paint a pretty house, a bridge or something man-made it gets difficult. Man-made structures are perfectly shaped, perfectly asymmetrical, perfectly colored etc. If I want to paint a pretty house I have to use tape to get straight lines etc. It is much more challenging and frustrating. You see, what God has created isn’t perfect to the eye. The balance and symmetry in nature are what you don’t see. It is what is deep inside. The ecosystem functions with fine-tuned precision. You don’t see it, but every part, every bug, every animal, every fungus, every drop of water and every pile of poop all comes together in perfect harmony. Now that is awe-inspiring.

Sometimes we tell stories that are awe-inspiring, but the truth is most of our lives are pretty ordinary and uninspiring. Life is sometimes painful, lonely and even frightening and frustrating. There is a grand deal of difference between the stories we often read, and everyday reality. Ordinary people, even believers in Jesus, are not that inspiring. They are broken, imperfect, and oddly shaped. Yet God loves them as if they were absolutely perfect in every way.

Let's think a minute. If you put a real apple next to a decorative apple, what do you see? The fake apple is perfectly shaped. The color is perfect all over. There are no bruises, blemishes or spots. Yet, if you tried to eat it, well good luck. You might actually get a bite out of it, but if you actually swallowed it, it could make you sick or even injure you. But the real apple is another story. It isn’t perfectly round or perfectly asymmetrical. It may be bruised and it might have blemishes on it. However, if you take a bite out of it, it’s delicious. While you chew on it you are sucking down the juices and as the apple is swallowed and absorbed into your system, it nuthouses you. The real apple is much better than the fake one, even though it might not be as pretty.

Well, the stories we tell are often awe-inspiring, but if you look in the Bible, the awe is not in the characters in scripture, but in the God who created them. I am often amazed that people talk so much about Solomon as if he were the master of romance. The Song of Solomon is recited with reverence as if the writer were full of wisdom when it comes to love and romance. Really? Seriously? King Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines! What on earth does he know about love? Okay, back in those days a king would marry another king’s daughter as a way of sealing a contractual agreement. Maybe Solomon wasn’t being a husband to all of them. But really, I would rather be married to a humble shepherd then be one of 1000 wives of the King. And, how many children did Solomon have? I want to know. If all of his wives and concubines had only one child each, that would be 1000 children. Talk about father absence! How does one father 1000 children? Really?!! Okay, maybe he didn’t have children with all of his wives, but not having a child in that culture was a serious stigma. If he never made love to 999 of his wives and was faithful to one, that meant that 999 women were doomed to not ever having any children. He might have been served with a lot of divorce papers. Hello!! The Bible says his women led him astray into idol worship. Yet his written works are included in the scripture as the inspired, infallible word of God. You might be one of those preachers who has been faithful to your one wife your entire married life, and you have books on the New York Times Best Seller list. Your stuff, however inspiring it may be, is not included in the Cannon of the infallible, inspired Word of God. You might be tempted to say, ‟God, I don’t get you.”

Let’s try another story found in Genesis chapter 38th. How about Judah who had three sons one of whom died leaving the wife, Tamar, childless. His name was Er meaning wicked. God took his life because he spilled his seed on the ground refusing to impregnate his wife. His widow, Tamar, by Middle Eastern custom, was to be married to the deceased’s brother, and he was to impregnate her so that she would not be childless. So her husband’s brother refused and spilled his seed on the ground. God saw that as immeasurably wicked and killed him also. So Judah had one younger son, Shelah, whom he promised to Tamar when he became old enough to father a child. This does not sound like a positive arrangement for Shelah or Tamar, but that was the culture of the day. So Judah did not keep his promise, and Tamar came up with a scheme. She disguised herself as a prostitute and Judah went into her. He needed to pay her, but he didn’t have payment with him. He promised her a kid from his flock. She wanted something of his to hold until he could bring her payment. He gave her his seal, cord, and staff. When he sent payment, Tamar could not be located. Tamar became pregnant, and it was reported to Judah that his daughter in law had ‟played the whore,” and he wanted to burn her to death. But Tamar had his staff, cord, and seal, and it became clear that the child in her womb was Judah’s. Judah realized he was in the wrong, not Tamar. Tamar later gave birth to twins, Perez and Zerah. That’s not a very awe-inspiring story.

Well now, let's talk about the story of Lot and his two daughters found in Genesis 19:30 - 37. They were living in a cave in the desert and had pretty much given up hope of ever finding a husband, and they had to have a child. So, they got their father drunk and went into him and each of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by him. They gave birth to Edom and Moab. Another not very awe-inspiring story.

So now that brings me to Ruth and Naomi found in the book of Ruth. Naomi and her family left their home and go to another country because the morality in Israel was so bad. But while she was living in the other country, her husband and two sons died. She was left with her two daughters in law. She determined to go back home to Israel. At least she had a house there. Orpah, finally let her go, but Ruth, the Moabitis, refused to let her go. She pleads, ‟Your God will be my God and your people will be my people.” So Ruth and Naomi returned to Israel to Naomi’s house and they were stuck surviving on their own. Ruth went to gleaning in the fields.

So while Ruth is gleaning in the fields, Boaz, the owner of the field where she is gleaning, takes notice of her and asks about her. ‟That is Ruth the Moabitis who is taking care of her mother in law, the widow Naomi,” he is told. So he leaves instructions to leave plenty of grain for her to gather and at the end of the day he makes sure she has plenty of grain to take with her.

Ruth tells Naomi when she gets home how kind Boaz has been to her. Naomi gets a little excited. ‟He is a good man, and he is a kinsman redeemer. Now you listen to me .....” and Naomi begins a little matchmaking scheme and in the end, Boaz marries Ruth and both Ruth and Naomi are provided for. Here’s the awesome in it. Boaz is a descendant of the Perez one of the twins born to Tamar fathered by Judah. Ruth is the decedent of the incestual relationship between Lot and his oldest daughter. Ruth and Boaz bear a child whose seed eventually becomes King David from whose ancestral line is born Yahshua son of Yahweh. Now that is awe-inspiring.

Now Yahshua was traveling with his disciples through Samaria. One does not go through Samaria is one is a Jew. One goes around Samaria. But not our redeemer. No, he had someone he needed to talk to. He sends his disciples ahead of him to get some lunch. While they are gone, he meets with a nameless Samaritan woman at the well. If one is a devout Jewish man, one does not want to be seen in public talking to a woman like the woman at the well. She is a Samaritan and a five-time divorcee who is now living as a concubine with another man. But Yahshua is a gentleman. He likes broken people. He is in the business of retrieving what others have thrown away. This woman has lived a disappointing and painful life, and she is stigmatized, marginalized and scorned. She bears the distinction of being the very first person to whom Yahshua reveals himself as the coming Messiah. He bestowed a tremendous honor on her, and she is also known as the first evangelist in the Bible. That is an awe-inspiring story.

Recently I watched a film called Ragamuffin directed by David Leo Shultz. It is the story of the late Christian music artist, Rich Mullins. Rich Mullins was and is my favorite artist. He wrote some of the tenderest, richly passionate music. When I was learning to play guitar, I was learning to play his stuff. I loved playing and singing his music. It ministered to me deeply. While I watched the movie about his life, I was amazed. Rich never married because the woman he loved chose to marry someone else. That shook him badly. He had a father that never accepted him, and he struggled with insecurity all his life. He struggled with alcohol, he smoked and he swore sometimes. He had a temper too. He ran around in torn blue jeans, bare feet, and a white t-shirt. His hair was a scraggly mess. He looked, at least in the film, like a homeless man on the street. He was desperately trying to connect with God and he struggled constantly. He met author Brennan Manning and became friends. Brennen ministered to him in a profound way and helped him to believe that God really loved him. I had written most of this article when I watched the film. I wanted to cry. I felt it deep inside. This is exactly the thing our savior is trying to get to. Our brokenness does not make us unacceptable to God. It is the very thing he seeks. So much of what gets communicated to us in the church is that we can come to God as we are, but then we have to get fixed. We have to put a crease in our pants, polish our shoes, our nails, and our smiles. We need to be the most perfectly spiritually mature people before God can use us. We can’t live up to that standard, so we learn to whitewash. That is why for years and years people go to church and carry around inside of them a ball of pain. They can’t be real. They think God won’t take them the way they really are.

Rich sang, ‟So hold me, Jesus, cause I’m shaking like a leaf . . .” I know exactly how he felt. I’m a ragamuffin too, Rich. Both Brennan and Rich are now in Heaven with our savior. When I get there, I hope to sit and sing a few songs with Rich and talk shop with a fellow author and ragamuffin. I would like to talk to the woman at the well too and Hosea’s wife. I would like to meet Zacheus and Peter who failed miserably to be the person he wanted himself to be. I hope to find my friends Mannie and Daniel there. I have prayed for them for years, and I want so much to find them when I get to Heaven. They are people I know in this world who were real apples with bruises and splotches and patchy color who I know desperately needed to know that God could take them as they were. I really want to find them there. On my own broken road, I always hope to be surprised by the love of God. Like Rich, my father rejected me too. I never held it against him because I know what a broken childhood he led. Like Rich, I am always trying to find a way to get close to Jesus, the real one who loves broken people.

So hold me, Jesus, cause I’m shaking like a leaf

You have been king of my glory

Won’t you be my prince of peace?