I used to be embarrassed by the Old Testament. With all the traumatic events mentioned during those thousands of years – murder, sexual exploitation, military invasions, natural disasters, political scandals, family dysfunction – I used to think it was all a bit too racy to be included in a holy book. I remember thinking,
“If I were God and wanted people to love and believe in me, I would have sanitized those stories and kept out the ugliest sections…”
Good thing I’m not God…
The older I get and the more time I spend reading the Old Testament, the more I’m amazed at how comforting it is to read about people who have lived through dreadful life stories and have come through with even greater trust in their Creator.
Remember Moses? When God chose him to deliver His people from slavery in Egypt, he gave God every possible reason why he shouldn’t be the one. He was not an orator, he was scared, nervous and tried to convince God to choose someone else. Moses had murdered an Egyptian 40 years earlier and had extreme fear and trembling, unconvinced he was the one to lead a million people cross-country through the desert. Yet he reluctantly agreed. God showed up when He said he would, working through Moses with his brother Aaron as his mouthpiece, and the rest is 40 years of desert history.
Naomi was the widow who lost not only her husband but both sons to death within ten years. She asked others to call her Mara, meaning bitter, instead of Naomi, which means pleasant. Naomi said,
“The Strong One has dealt me a bitter blow. I left here [Bethlehem] full of life and God has brought me back with nothing but the clothes on my back. Why would you call me Naomi? God certainly doesn’t. The Strong One ruined me.” Ruth 1:20
God allowed those words of hers to be recorded for millions of others to read. Even though she had given up on God, He had not given up on her and planned a good ending for the tragic story she was living. When she returned to her home in Bethlehem along with her daughter-in-law Ruth, God provided a husband for Ruth, who in turn gave birth to a son who ended up becoming an ancestor of King David and was one of the few women named in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.
God isn’t afraid of letting it be known publicly that His people often don’t trust Him. He’s not ashamed that He is perceived as harsh, unfair and demanding. He lets us speak our emotions, even though they may not be the truth about who He is. Yet He humbly conceals Himself as he works all things together for good – to those who love him. As C.S. Lewis writes:
“We may ignore but we can in no way evade the presence of God.
The world is crowded with him.
He walks everywhere incognito.”
My friend Kara’s favorite story in the OT is about Samson. Samson the womanizer, the royal screw-up, the proud and arrogant man who disobeyed God and lived a haughty and egotistical life. Yet in the end he was humbled, and God was able to do mighty things through him.
Samson is the last Biblical person I would admire, yet that story gave my friend great hope that even with all her failures and sin, God is redeeming her life in amazing ways. His mercies never fail, and His ways never cease to surprise me.
Whenever we read FB and IG posts of seemingly perfect people and families, taken at a moment of peace and success, we seem to assume this is everyday normal for them. The Old Testament, however, shows characters as real people – their struggles, weaknesses, failures and joys – and how God works through all of them to bring about good. The stories relieve my anxiety because it’s not the people themselves who pose as heroes but as fallen humans in the hands of a merciful God.
Do not fear for I am with you;
Do not be dismayed for I am your God;
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10
These stories give me great confidence. When I see how God worked through all those people of old, how He was never in a hurry, how He continued to forgive, how His love was long-suffering and patient – it gives me hope. It helps me trust that He is working in my story as well.
When I look at all the uncertainty of our age, the anger and divisions between people groups, the pandemic of fear and anxiety trying to infect us all – I stop and read these stories. I read and re-read them, and it brings me peace. This is not the first time the world has been a tough place to live, and it won’t be the last – there is indeed nothing new under the sun.
Take heart and know God cares about you, just like all those people who lived thousands of years ago. He has not forgotten you. God is who he says he is, He keeps his promises and is the same yesterday, today and forever.
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