Impossible?

14 Is anything impossible for the Lord? I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son.”- Genesis 18:14

This verse rocks. The God of the impossible. It's amazing enough that He created an entire nation out of a 90 year old woman and a 99 year old man. Miraculous. Fills my day with hope.

but here's the kicker I would have missed if this verse hadn't burned into my brain this morning:

Just a chapter later and we get to the destruction of Sodom and Gommorah and the fate of Lot's daughters. Let's face it, these poor girls had lived through a pretty rough and intense 48 hours: Angels show up at their house, then the crazy lustful men of the city surround it and demand the angels. Instead their father offers THEM to the crowd, in the cultural practice that protecting honorary guests is of higher value than one's daughters, but luckily the crowd doesn't go for it. The next morning they have to flee their city and leave behind their "husbands" (betrothed) and leave behind everything they know, without a backward glance. Unfortunately their mom can't stand that, takes a look over her shoulder and is turned into a pillar of salt. Now the entire plain has been reduced to ashes and the two girls are hiding in the mountains with their dad. Not entirely ridiculous that dispair sets in.

The other thing to keep in mind here, is that at many points in the text we see that the culture of these utterly wicked cities have settled in to the hearts and minds of the entire family. But here's where fear takes hold, culture kicks in, and the God of the impossible gets lost.

"30 Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and settled in the mountains because he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters. 31 Later the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man anywhere nearby to lie with us, according to the way of all the world." - Genesis 19:30-31

and the daughters resort to their own plan. This breaks my heart. So sad. But how often do I completely forget the God of the impossible, this amazing God who is the best thing there is in all the world? Too often. How often do I let fear control my life and take matters into my own hands instead of waiting for God's perfect timing? Too often. And just how deep has the "way of all the world" sunk into my thinking? Probably more than I want to admit. My prayer is that through this time I will learn to lean on the God of the impossible rather than the way of all the world.

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Tidings of Comfort and Joy

"When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. He named him Noah and said, “He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the LORD has cursed.” - Genesis 5:28-29

this verse stuck out to me this morning in my reading. In fact I feel as though I've never seen it. Lamech was right, as Noah did bring comfort from the curse, just not how his father envisioned it. The comfort from the curse came through the violent redemption of the Flood. Which got me thinking about why his father said that. And then I was very curious to know what Noah's name means. According to a quick search the name Noah could mean : peaceful, comforter, long-lived, or wanderer. All very cool. Noah was an amazing guy.

It was cool to find this verse as I've started reading the Bible in 90 days. So today I ventured from the fresh, perfect creation to the point where "every thought and imagination of their hearts were continually evil" and then got to see God's redemption plan for even that, as the flood and the rebuilding began. Amazing. God is so faithful. And I love looking at things from His perspective. It brings my heart comfort, to rest in the hands of He who definitely knows what He is doing.