Susanne Maynes

Ever had one of those mornings when you woke up just not quite ready to face life? That was me recently. It had been a hectic week with too quick of a pace and too many challenges, and I was on the verge of a melt-down — maybe not Three Mile Island, but still.

So I grabbed my trusty Bible, hoping for some inspiring words and a tasty personal tidbit to get me through the day. Perhaps a lovely promise, or comforting verse to soothe and uplift me.

I got wrath and woes.

I started in Psalms, often a great place to find solace, and landed on Psalm 78. That particular one happens to be a litany of God’s complaints against His wayward children (in this case, Ephraim, a tribe of Israel).  It’s clear that He’s mad.  He’s really mad.Yikes, I thought, let’s try the New Testament.  You know, the covenant that is full of grace andmercy.  I flipped to Matthew, which I had been reading, and landed in the middle of Jesus’ “woes” to the Pharisees. And Jesus is mad. Really mad.So I didn’t end up with the kind of verses you would inscribe in calligraphy on a nice plaque to look at on a rainy day. But that morning’s foray into the Word of God was just as valuable.

The Bible is God’s story. It tells me about what He is like, including what causes His anger, grief, compassion or joy. It shows me how to respond to Him.             

God’s Word is not a nice little collection of pithy sayings and fluffy sentiments.

I am very thankful for the days when I do receive a wonderful nugget that fits my personal situation. But I am equally thankful for days like today, because I know a little bit more about God’s heart and what He really cares about.

His story reveals His character. All of it is worth reading regularly. 

Do you find yourself hunting for tasty nuggets in the Scriptures while avoiding certain books or chapters?  What unique benefits might you gain from a difficult passage?

        We were talking about how God knows your ways intricately, and that is nothing to fear. Let’s look at the other side of this coin, though.  It is possible to exasperate and even anger God. Know how? By refusing to know his ways. Talking about the ancient Israelites, the writer of Hebrews quotes additional Scriptures about how they rebelled against God and tested him to the point of provoking him. They had seen all the ways he had taken care of them. He led them, fed them, and saved them from their enemies, yet they continually questioned and grumbled against him. In his Continue Reading

My cat Gizmo was deathly ill one summer, so he hid inside the ginormous juniper bush we had in our backyard.  He nearly died of dehydration because I couldn’t find him for a couple of days. When I was finally able to coax him out and get water down his throat with a dropper, he got well. In Psalm 139, and in Hebrews 3 and 4, a comparison is made between how well God knows our ways (infinitely and perfectly) and how well we know His (maybe not so much). David lists this eloquent description of all the stuff God knows about us, like when we sit down, when we get up, what we think, where we Continue Reading