I'm getting back into the groove of reading my Bible and commenting on what I've read. I hope I keep this up. I'm going to try to blog weekly, but I don't know if that will happen. This week I read Genesis 18 and found a couple of good topics. The story that made me think the most was verses 16-33 where God tells Abraham he is going to go to Sodom to see if it's as bad as he's hearing and will destroy it if it is and Abraham pleads for the righteous. Here's Gen 18:20-26.
"Then the Lord said, 'The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.' The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. Then Abraham approached him and said, 'Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing--to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?' The Lord said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.'"
Abraham talks the Lord down to ten righteous people by the end of the passage before the Lord left for Sodom.
So here's my thought: How bold of Abraham to speak up! Good for him to say how he felt in the very presence of God! I feel like so many people these days are even scared to tell God how they feel without being face to face with Him and here Abraham looks Him square in the eyes and tells Him of his frustrations with God's decision. Can you imagine how Abraham felt walking away from God at that moment? He was probably shaking! He could've been scared, exhilarated, or at peace with the situation. Maybe Abraham felt confident enough with God after just having spent some time with Him, eating and talking with Him that he was perfectly calm talking to God in such a way, but I can't imagine his heart wasn't pounding throughout the conversation. Abraham does say a couple of times, "Don't be angry with me for speaking so boldly, but..." so I have to imagine he was still scared. And yet, look at the Lord's reaction. You can't really tell what tone of voice He used or what His face looked like, but I believe He was calm about it. He didn't seem angry at all during this whole repetitive conversation. He is a patient God.
So why are we so scared to tell Him how we feel? God clearly encourages us to express our feelings whether we're angry with God, sad about the way things turned out, or thrilled about what just happened. So I encourage you to talk to God as you would talk to anyone else close to you: your parents, siblings, spouse, or best friend. God will most likely handle it better than your loved one did so let it out! Don't hold it in! God will still love you the same after your venting as He did before...and that's quite a bit of love.
