Matthew 10:35-36 ESV
Micah 7:6 ESV
Micah 7:7 ESV
Romans 8:38-39 ESV
When I was in my twenties a series of movies came out about the end times. The movies were shown at church mostly. I don’t remember watching them at the movies.
That was a good thing because I was pretty freaked out. I had read scriptures about a time when things will be different, but the scriptures didn’t make it scary or graphic. When I watched the movies it was scary. I’ve always been very sensitive to scary movies and so I’ve never watched any horror movies. If I would have watched scary movies I would have had nightmares.
When I was in college in 1971 my roommates would watch Night Gallery and I was so frightened I wept. Everyone made fun of me.
Even though I was older, I asked my dad if he thought it was a good idea for me to watch shows or movies that scared me and he said, “Do not watch them!”
I told him others made fun of me and he said, “Well, it’s never okay to make fun of someone because they are afraid…ever.” He advised me to either go to the library or to go to the common area in the dormitory.
That’s what I did.
At the time I felt strange because I was different. Now (50 years later) I know that God called me to a different kind of life. God gave me a sensitive heart and mind so I could hear Him.
I no longer care what other people think.
In Matthew 10:35-36 Jesus said, “For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.”
While the thought of families being against other family members is unsettling for me I believe that Jesus said that for a specific reason. Allow me to explain…
Let’s say a man hears the voice of the Spirit of God and God calls that man to live a special kind of life. The man knows God has called him. But his father has not heard God’s voice and he has not turned to God. The father doesn’t understand why his son has changed. The father doesn’t want his son to change.
The son has already changed. He gave his life to Jesus.
The son promised that he would love and serve God all the days of his life and that he would put God first. No one else will ever take the place of Jesus. Because the father doesn’t understand his son’s commitment, he is not able to understand his sons decision to put God first in his life.
That’s why Jesus said a man will be set against his father, a daughter against a mother, a daughter-in-law against a mother -in-law, and a person will be against his household.
God comes first. Period.
In Micah 7:6 the prophet wrote:
“the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother,the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house.”
In order to get a better understanding of why that was happening we need to go back to Micah 7:2-3 where we read, “The godly has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among mankind; they all lie in wait for blood, and each hunts the other with a net.”
This was a difficult time for Israel. Corruption was rampant (https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/bcc/micah-7.html).
Because family members were set against family members, they couldn’t even trust each other.
Then, in Micah 7:7 the prophet wrote, “But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.”
When we cannot trust anyone around us we can still rest assured that we can trust the Lord.
When I look back and remember the fear I felt as a young adult when I watched the movies about a time when life would be very different I see it with a very different lens now. I am no longer afraid. I taught my children to trust God and to put God first. I tell my grandchildren they can always trust God.
I’ve never experienced a time when God failed me.
No matter what happens, God is first in my life and nothing can separate me from God.
I know that Paul’s words in Romans 8:38-39 are TRUE, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Spiritual Practice: God First
Think about what is first in your life. You have a choice to look to the Lord and put God first.
In God, Deborah
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