Ezra 7:1-8:20
1 Corinthians 4:1-21
Psalm 30:1-12
Proverbs 20:28-30
"10 We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!"
In today's NT reading I know Paul is trying to address the divisions and immorality in the Corinthian church. But I can't quite focus on that - instead, I am focused on how angry and frustrated he seems to be. I suspect language during Biblical times was a bit less rude and direct than is possible today, so extrapolating from what he said in the quote above, I think today he might have dropped the f-bomb.
Why is this encouraging? Because, if you are like me, you are often tempted to think that, having received the Holy Spirit, you now expect yourself to be the picture of faith, peacefulness and joy, unruffled by circumstance, able to sleep in the boat during the storm the way Christ did, knowing His father was - our Father is - in control.
Peaceful despite circumstances? Yeah, right.
While perhaps not as frequently, I still find myself losing my temper with my circumstances. I am inpatient, frustrated, angry. And to no credit to myself, I let it show. And I find myself frustrated and discouraged at not measuring up to the idealized standards I think the disciples have set.
But wait: verses like the one above, or the one where Paul tells people to go all the way and cut their genitalia off (Galatians 5:12 if you don't believe me), or the one where Paul and Peter quarrel - these give me the reminder that no,'I am not expected to be perfect. And when I lose it, I can come back to God, Who will never have left me anyway.
Father, it's tempting to burden myself with the impossible expectation of perfection. Thank you for the reminder that Paul, Peter and the others were still human, and prone to human failings, and that You do not expect perfection, and You still love us when we fall. May this stupid expectation never discourage us from returning to you when we sin.
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