Good Morning Friends,
Life has storms and some of them are of men’s own making. And some of them can be of women’s own making as well. The me too movement has shown how men can make a problem for themselves. What had been suppressed is coming to light. And what is different is that the movement of many protects individual women from a backlash from the counter claims. This is not to say that all women are honorable and faithful, but it is to say that strength is found in the square of the nodes. Regardless, the problem is not new and is never completely resolved without forgiveness. We see the essence of the problem in the story of David and how power corrupts. We see that the “boys will be boys” defense is worthless. Thankfully Jesus points to a solution to the storms even in the asking of today’s revealing question. Why Are You Afraid?
Scripture: and the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds; but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. He brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of his meager fare, and drink from his cup, and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was loath to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared that for the guest who had come to him.” Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die; he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.” Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul; Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, for you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. Thus says the Lord: I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this very sun. For you did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.” David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan said to David, “Now the Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child that is born to you shall die.” Then Nathan went to his house. The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became very ill. David therefore pleaded with God for the child; David fasted, and went in and lay all night on the ground. The elders of his house stood beside him, urging him to rise from the ground; but he would not, nor did he eat food with them.
2 Samuel 12:1-7a, 10-17 (NRSV)
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Mark 4:35-41 (NRSV)
Message: David was a man after God’s own heart, but he was also after women’s hearts as well. He was battle tested at a young age. He was loved by people and loved to dance and found joy in music. When he became King, he was given more power than any man should have, and this power prompted him to want more power. David was tempted by what he wanted in his mind. And he wanted Bathsheba. He tried his best to cover up his actions in his relationship with her. But people knew what David was doing in sending Uriah, her husband to his death. Nathan the prophet, sent by God, comes to David, and tells him a story of two men. His purpose was to shine a light on the sin in David’s life. In that story Nathan essentially compares a just and faithful man to one that is not so just. And when David is moved to act against the unfaithful, Nathan points out that David is the man in the story. Friends, we all need to confront our own sins and we cannot deal with it alone. We must be connected to a power greater than ourselves that helps us to learn that personal power and authority used incorrectly can yield grave results. The path back to a relationship with God begins with repentance but it cannot end there. We must have faith that enables us to move through the storms not just with truth and peace but also with justice and love.
Pray we forgive one another. Pray we are sober, well balanced, and self-disciplined. Pray we are alert and cautious always. Pray we take captive our own thoughts. Pray we thank God for the divine power over all events in our lives and over all the forces that influence us, believing God’s power is here to take us though the storms of life but also to see a way to avoid them. Pray we remember to seek God not just for rest but for revelation. Pray we realize that temptation stems from our own flaws. Pray we find strength in unity and truth connected to God’s forgiveness. Pray when life’s storms rage and the sea of opinion beats against the foundations of our faith in huge waves…when the lightning flashes and the thunder roars and the wind blows, we, like a bird in the storm, find a crevice in the rock to rest until we can return to the flock. Pray as our faith grows, we find our salvation and peace but also realize that the cycle of the oppressed becoming the oppressors solves nothing but just perpetuates the problem of sin. Pray God restore us all to the joy of salvation. Pray the wounded be healed. Pray we have a revelation of the nature of true love and how it connects us to a forgiving power greater than ourselves. Pray that the reality of heaven becomes our reality here on earth.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 