Lent Day 5: Examining our assumptions (2015)

Self-assesssment: Do you ever find yourself reading a passage from the Bible, surprised that what you assumed is not the intention of the writer? That it means something beyond what you've been told? 

 If so, how do you respond?

We often quote (or hear) these verses as a promise that life will be good and the weather sunny:

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13

 However, the prophet Isaiah is telling Israel this in the middle of his book. He's been warning his nation how awful their captivity will be. Yet, despite his judgment, God says he will be faithful and restore what he has dismantled. What?! This isn't a magic formula for an easy life?

We're encouraged to do good and avoid evil. But life is not always that simple or straightforward, is it? Sometimes the God of goodness and comfort is with us in pain and sorry, not just easing our path forward without any hassles. What about this verse?

"Do they not go astray who devise evil? Those who devise good meet steadfast love and faithfulness." Proverbs 14:22 

 Reality check: How could we read scriptures with less assumptions about what God is trying to say to us and to his people around the world? How would you wrestle with life if you knew God was with you in every discomfort?

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