On Fridays in February, we look at the scripture that our campers will be studying during Day 2 this summer of “Awesome God. Awesome Love.”
Prayer: God of all, your wisdom is unsearchable and your judgement is pure. Help me to understand your ways and to live in your path. Teach me to follow the pioneer and perfector of my faith, Christ Jesus. Amen Reading: I Corinthians 10: 1-13 (Click to read text) Stop and GROW: After reading the text, discuss/ponder the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Book of Faith questions, which are part of Camp Mount Luther's GROW Time with campers. QUESTION 1: What scares, confuses, challenges, or doesn’t make sense to me in this text? QUESTION 2: What delights me in this text or is my favorite part of the story? QUESTION 3: What stories or memories does this text stir in me? QUESTION 4: What is God up to in this text? Reflection: To be clear, I don’t really like the popular advice that comes from this text—“Don’t worry, honey, God doesn’t give you more than you can handle.” Paul includes the important detail that God will provide a way out. I also dislike that a destroying angel could be sent when I complain. Sometimes, I feel like I need to complain. Don’t other people need to know that I am uncomfortable and that things aren’t going the way I think they should? Is it really questioning the sovereignty of God to provide? Is it really skirting around dependence on God, to want things my way? Doesn’t God understand my mixed messages of, “Lord, I trust you, I just can’t be sure which way things are going. So, until you show me a sign, I am just trying to take care of myself.” We can’t use correction fluid or tape to cover-up the words, phrases, or verses of the Bible that make us uncomfortable. The truth is still there. The confrontation with our pride and sinfulness needs to happen. God doesn’t want us to keep making mistakes. What can be helpful to consider is that punctuation marks are very new (historically) in our reading of the Bible and not original to the text. When we let the dots and commas fall away, we may notice something that helps us to see deep meaning. For me, “God is faithful” stands out in the last verse. Christ, our rock, throughout the Old and New Testament follows us and helps us through our struggles. Christ is the way out of those life altering struggles. Christ is the humble hand that helps us to truly examine the face in the mirror and the faithful choices of the mind behind it. Christ is the one who can, in time turn our dislikes into an experience we can grow from and like. --Andrew Fitch
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