Crazy busy Wednesday in my neck of the woods! But our move is pretty much finished (just a few odds and ends left to gather up), and we are settling in. So happy! Sat on our porch last night and stared out at the dark behind our house. Suh-weet…
Genesis 10:32 (NIV)–These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.
God is AMAZING. No sooner had he destroyed the earth because of the wickedness of people… No sooner had the righteous Noah passed out in his tent in a drunken stupor… No sooner had two sons totally disrespected their father… And God started all over again.
That’s grace. Love. The unexplained mystery of our Almighty. He doesn’t hold a grudge. No, really. I want you to stop and think about that one for a second. He. Doesn’t. Hold. A. Grudge. He didn’t give up when Adam and Eve fell. He didn’t give up when the whole world fell to pieces and only Noah’s family was left. He didn’t give up when even Noah tripped and smashed his face in the mud.
So what makes you think you’re the one who’s going to reach the end of His patience and mercy? Can’t we be pretty arrogant sometimes in our self-condemnation? We start to think surely He can’t forgive us… Surely we’re the ones who are going to cause Him to throw His hands in the air and give up.
But we’re not. If we understood His infinite love and His awesome grace, we’d know. We’d know He’s not giving up. He loves us too much to walk away before the final “The End.”
Aren’t we all glad He’s a God like that?
-JB
Sandy Rosser says
This is the very same verse I picked! All I could think was “God wasted no time in re-populating the earth!” Think about how wonderful and glorious it was for all these sons (and daughters) to be born — how much joy there was among the people. Thank God for not giving up on us!
Jodie says
I didn’t consider the joy, but you’re right! How cool!
Jessica R. Patch says
Amen and Amen! Love this, friend! You always encourage me!
Teresa Lockhart says
It’s funny. I was thinking about these very examples today. I have struggled more lately than any other period of my life. I see fellow Chrisitans, and I can almost hear them saying “failure” when they see me. Of course, that’s not true. They are too kind to be so judgmental. Then I think about God and how I have fallen short of being what I should be. Thank you for the reassurance that God has not and wlll not give up on me.
Jodie says
I have struggled lately myself. I shared with my children yesterday how I started to buy into Satan’s old lies about how I’m not “good enough.” I have a bad tendency to assume I know what people are thinking about me, and later I find out I’m usually wrong. I’m writing a verse on the board every day about who we are in Christ because that is who we REALLY are. My mind needs a major reshaping. 🙂 Miss you, girl!
Lori Schulz says
Hi Jodie,
I just found your site and it’s great! Thanks for the reminder of God’s amazing love and forgiveness!
Lori
Jodie says
Thank you, Lori! Glad you dropped by. 🙂
Dawn Lucowitz says
Better late than never, right? I keep thinking I’m going to find something different in this chapter, but really, what I see is exactly what you pointed out. I love that you have us doing this chapter by chapter challenge because normally I would have probably skimmed or totally skipped over the listing of clans. It really is awesome to find God’s love in each and every part of His word.
Jodie says
I’m late with replies, so we’re even. 🙂 I’m glad you’re loving this! I’m loving your comments! I was getting worried about you…