Psalmists Defining; Us Understanding

Day 105: Psalm 6-10

In college, one of the activities we did in Freshman Bible was to list all the different names for God. We found Deliverer, and Righteous One, Healer and King of Kings. There were many others, but I liked this activity because it gave me many different ways to think about God. Instead of "God" being nebulous and hard to grasp, I could think of him as the Forgiver, the Prince of Peace, a Refuge, the Lord of Lords.

I like the psalms because of how these writers characterize and define God. They create metaphors for God that help us understand his nature. They use words to define God and to give us glimpses into his character. And yet they manage not to limit him or to set limitations on him. Instead, they show how these traits are merely one aspect of God, one side of him, a partial view. The psalmists show us new ways of seeing God, which can help us in our own journey to seek, understand, and know God. The psalmists are giving us words to start.

Identity, Covenant, and God's Numbering of the Israelites

Day 26: Numbers 1-4

Well, I made it through Leviticus (yay!), and now I'm on to Numbers, which is more of a narrative with stories than it is about how humans are to behave as children of God.

The book of Numbers opens with God speaking to Moses in the Desert of Sinai. The Israelites have been gone from Egypt for 13 months and now God wants Moses to take a census of the people (to "number" the people). So, Moses asks men from each tribe to help count, and they count the people by the 12 tribes, except for Levi's tribe, which wasn't counted in the census because they were in charge of the tabernacle. God also sets the Levites apart as his people. God then explains how they are to be arranged as they camp in the wilderness--from who will pitch there tent where to which tribe will be first in line as they wander.

The numbering of the Israelites goes on for the first four chapters. The whole reading is strategic and technical. But I think God is doing something here. In the book of Leviticus, God establishes a covenant with His people. He gives them laws, and they agree to abide by them. In Numbers, he now counts the people--His people--and gives them an identity. Not only does he give them identities within their own individual tribes and within the whole nation as Israelites, but he also passes on to them another identity--one as a member of the family of God.

The notion of identity is an important one. As I was growing up, I was the second-born daughter, younger than my sister by eleven months. I was #2 out of 4. I was the daughter of a judge and a teacher. I was good at sports. I was a part of a church. I was a member of swim team, soccer clubs, and team sports. I went to a public elementary school and a private middle school and high school. I was a member of the Poe family. I am part German, part Scottish. I am an American. And on and on and on.

All these characteristics make up who I am. Of course these things don't make up my entire identity (in fact, I didn't even go past high school in that list), but they formed me. They shaped how I saw myself and how I viewed the world. They showed me how I fit in. How I belonged. Where I belonged. To whom I belonged.

And that's what God was doing with the Israelites. He was saying, "You're mine." "You belong to me." "You fit in here." "You can identify with me." "Find your identity in me."

The Israelites can find their identity in God. They can view themselves as God's chosen people. They can remember how God saved them from slavery and redeemed them. How He established a covenant through them. Israel can become "God's covenant people." What an amazing identity to have. The identity comes with responsibility, yes, but God also promises them that they can always look to him when their identity is shaken, challenged, or unclear. God has given them an identity.

He's also given all humans today this same identity. He has invited us into this same covenant relationship with him. He has given us an identity. It comes with responsibility, but it should also provide a wonderful foundation--even when our lives are shaken from what life throws at us. We have an identity in God. We can find our identity in Jesus. We can see how the Holy Spirit has named us and called us. What an amazing identity to have.

Hearing Voices

Day 3: Genesis 9-12

God demonstrates his power once again with the story of the tower of Babel. These people were building a monument to themselves and God didn’t like it. So, he confuses their language and scatters them all over the world. What kind of towers have I built in my life that replace God? Honestly, I don’t really like thinking about this question. Too often in my life, other things come first. Too often, I come first. But God wants to be first in my life, first in your life. He doesn’t want me to put my identity and self-esteem in anything else but him. I find comfort in this. When I’m having a hard day at work, for instance, or when I get rejection after rejection for the articles I’m trying to get published, I can remind myself that God wants me to find my identity in him. And this brings me comfort.

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I wonder how God called Abram. Did his voice come booming from heaven? Or was God’s voice one Abram heard in his head and followed because he knew it was God? Or did God speak to him some other way? I’m not sure, but sometimes I do wish that I would know exactly when God was speaking to me and what he was saying. Abram heard God and followed him immediately. I think I would follow God, too, but I want to hear him. To know for sure that God is speaking to me and that it’s not some other voice I’m listening to (like my own).

At times over these past two years, I have really regretted church planting. Before we did it, we prayed and prayed and prayed about this decision, and we really felt that we were being called to do this. But then it all seemed to combust, and we were left wondering if we really heard the voice of God calling us to do this, or if it was someone else’s. I guess we won’t ever know for sure, but I do find peace in the fact that God has used our church planting experiences to form us and shape us into more mature Christians, into a more mature couple. He also used us to impact others. Some of our best friends are people we met through this experience. God used this situation (and is still using this situation) for the good. I do pray, though, that God will reveal his voice to me more and more every day and that I will be humble enough to hear it.