I love Wednesday! It’s my favorite part of the week, digging into the Bible to find those little “bites” we might miss in quicker readings. What stood out to you in Obadiah this week? Drop in below and let us know. Next week we dive into Jonah. (I wrote that without meaning to. Punny, huh?)
Obadiah 1:12–You should not look down on your brother in the day of his misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast so much in the day of their trouble.
Doesn’t this verse strike right at the very core of human nature? We all have people who rub us the wrong way. Maybe they betrayed us. Maybe they talked about us behind our backs or slapped us right across our faces. Maybe they look down on us from a perch so high we look like specks of dust to them. It doesn’t matter what they’ve done, the bottom line is they’ve hurt us.
Then something happens… They fall off of their perch. Someone smacks them silly. Their secrets are laid out for the world to see. And we gloat. We nod our heads and, somewhere deep in our hearts, we say, “They deserved it.”
Uhm, no. It doesn’t get any plainer than this verse in Obadiah. It’s so plain, it makes my job simple this week, because there’s not a way to make it any simpler. We don’t do it, even though we want to. Even though they “deserve” it. Guess what? We deserve some pretty nasty things too, and only the grace of God keeps us from getting them. So we don’t dare gloat over the misfortunes of anybody, not when we’ve been the recipients of some major mercy ourselves.
-JB
Jessica R. patch says
So true. Jonah will tie right in with that, Jodie, and your comment on diving in was punny! I can’t speak for everyone, but I’ve had those feelings of “that’s what you get” when something unfortunate happens to a person who I’ve felt hurt by. This is a great reminder to have compassion and rejoice when others rejoice and weep with those who weep. Great Word Wednesday!
Jodie says
I typed it before it hit me I typed it. Love when things just happen like that. Wish it happened in my stories more often. 🙂 And thanks! I definitely need some help with this one!
K.M. Weiland says
I like that you’re going through the lesser-known Prophets. They tend to be neglected, but God would hardly have included them in the Bible, if they didn’t have something important to say to us. As for the verse you highlighted, yep, I’m definitely guilty of that, more than I’d like to admit probably.
Jodie says
I love doing this, going through in a year and picking out my favorites from each book. It reminds me that ALL of Scripture is important and, when we let God lead us, He will show us what we need to see.
Jen says
Obadiah 4- “Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord.
Pride is an ugly thing. Thankfully, God’s not afraid to show us just how little we have to be proud of! It doesn’t matter how far we soar in our careers or where we build our nests…. He’s always ready and willing to provide us with a much needed reality check. Painful at times, but oh so necessary!!!
And a fun side note– by breaking up Psalms, we’ll have 71 weeks of WW, and this is week 36…. meaning that we’re officially over half way!!
Jodie says
I love that you’re counting! I was wondering what week we were on but was too lazy to go count. 🙂 This is a great one. God is not one to let us take His credit for long. Seems like pride is one of our basic emotions, and I think it happens when we forget who is really in charge…
Dawn Lucowitz says
I think it’s awesome that Jen picked Obadiah 4 because I chose 3.
The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
Pride is a tough one all the time. It can so easily creep in on us, especially when we are utilizing God’s gifts to the fullest. When things are going so well, sometimes we forget that it’s not because we are so awesome, it’s because God it. All those moments of awesome in our lives are totally thanks to the blessings God allows us to experience and have nothing to do with our own doing.
Jodie says
AMEN! I just said on Jen’s that I think pride jumps in when we forget who is in charge. I think when God is in His right place in our lives, pride has a harder time creeping in. It’s when we start to make our own little gods that we get into trouble.