Wednesday, December 3, 2008

The In-Between

Well, the questions have begun. "Where are you?" "What's wrong?" "Have you been too busy to blog?" So I'm responding! I'm here. Nothing's wrong. And I just haven't had much to blog about.

My Intro to Biblical Studies is over in two days. Well, it's over for me tomorrow because I have to work on Friday. Tomorrow I will be spending the day at the library writing my final paper.

This week we have working on some of the difficult books of the Bible. I say difficult because they aren't necessarily shoved into a nice box. They have their own genre of writing prescribed to them: Psalms and Revelation. One author that we read this week spoke about the Psalms. Here's what he said (Dennis Bratcher in "Biblical Realism as Faith"):

We are used to seeing the Bible in terms of instructions from God thundered from Mount Sinai, the words of God through the prophets, the word of God pronouncing judgment on sin, or the promise of God's presence and grace in times of national calamity. We are not used to hearing the Bible much in its more human dimension, where the deep questions of human existence burst to the surface and explode to be hurled in the face of God. We too often assume that the entire Bible is either about proper piety, promises of hope, or judgment on sin.

And yet, most of us, in fact most of God's people throughout biblical times and through the ages, live in the "between" times, in the ordinary times where great events are long in the past or anticipated in the future. While much of the Bible recounts those high or low points of God's peoples' journey, most of their actual living was in the "between" times when ordinary day-to-day living had to be done. And in those ordinary times, life still happened. There were all the ups and downs of human existence, both joys and triumphs along with the tragedies and pain that accompany all human existence.

And so there were questions from God's people. They were the screamed questions of "why?" and "how long?" They were the reflective questions of "why do the wicked prosper?" They were the more deeply pious questions arising out of the darkness of human experience: "O Lord, why do you cast me off? Why do you hide your face from me?" (Psa 88:14). And they were the questions that could not even be framed as questions but hurled forth as curses, as the psalmist cried out the deepest of his own emotions: "May his memory be cut off from the earth. For he did not remember to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and the brokenhearted to their death. He loved to curse; let curses come on him" (Psa 109:16-17).


Most of us live in the "between" times. When nothing extraordinary is happening and nothing horrible is happening either. Just the everyday routine of living. And because of those expectations we find ourselves longing for something more. Or we interpret those times as God not being near. What I love about my God is that He created me to be a thinker with free will. He created me to ask questions, even of Him. He created me to continuously search Him out and sometimes that means that I am able to scream out to Him much like the Psalmters did. He created all of us this way.

It is not bad to question God. What's bad is not asking those questions that are burning in our hearts and instead walking away from Him because we don't understand and we aren't seeking to understand. God is revealing Himself to us everyday. Are we listening? Are we searching? Are we seeing? Or are we blindfolding ourselves, waiting for His opinions in hardest of times or in the best of times. It's in the in-between times that we have to be faithful, that we should be seeking Him out, asking the tough questions and leaning on Him for the answers.

5 comments:

Kyle said...

Sharon,
Maybe its because its 2 in the morning and I cant sleep or maybe it is because I have become cynical, or maybe I am more enlightened than I like to think I am, but I don't believe in the "Between" times. Here is why, I believe that the fact that we wake up in the morning is extraordinary, and is a big deal that comes from God. The fact that we have these grandiose ideas of what God does and that when he doesn't do something massive in the world it means he is not around just drives me nuts.
"When nothing extraordinary is happening and nothing horrible is happening either. Just the everyday routine of living." At least for me there is no such thing. My everyday routine is full of miracles. So to answer your questions "Are we listening?" "Are We Searching?" "Are we seeing?" For me only sorta... I see God everyday, I hear him in my heart and mind, but yeah I am searching... I am always trying to be a better Christ Follower... I am always looking for new ways that God is at work in my life... Its being faithful that eliminates my "Between" times...

Julie said...

Yay! My favorite version of Little Drummer Boy! I'll have to get this one on my playlist soon!
How absolutely right that writer is, I don't know about you, but I love the Psalms. Loving my sis & her family, in the "in-between" times....

Sharon said...

You're absolutely right Kyle! Being faithful can eliminate the in-between times! And everyday is a miracle. However, I think that it says a lot of faith to be able to say those things. Bratcher was talking about Israel's trials and going from not just everyday miracles but huge ones like pillars of fire and walls of cities crumbling and the horrible times like slavery and persecution. The Psalms were most written in between these times. The Psalms were what Israel was going through when those big things weren't there. And sadly, today many Christians are looking for those bigs things and forget about what God is doing right now in their lives in the everyday miracles! To get back to experiencing those everyday miracles - we have to search, we have to see, and we have to listen for God in our everyday lives.

char said...

Some of us need those In-between times to catch our breath and reflected on everything.

Sharon said...

right! it's in the those in-between times that we should be drawing our closest to God!

 
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