Beth Moore Bible Study – Day 2

Well, last nights Bible study with Beth Moore turned out to be more earth shaking than I possibly could have thought!

Once again, it turns out that God is guiding and directing me more than I give Him credit for! I don\’t know why it has to be a daily lesson for me but there it is.

I didn\’t know what to expect or what I was even hoping for but this is what the first study (the introduction) was about or at least my take on it. Beth started by giving the background on how the book of Thessalonians came to be written.  She explained how the three authors of this book, Paul, Silvanus (Silus) and Timothy came to be part of a team that worked together.

That happened because of what she called a REMIX!

A remix is when something changes in our life that causes us to go in a new direction, with new people and often in new places. In the case of Paul it was because of an explosive argument with Barnabus (his constant companion to that point). As a result the two broke up as traveling companions and went their separate ways. Two missionary teams were formed instead of one – each would develop their own charism and ministry for spreading God\’s kingdom.

What came to my mind was how cells split up and divide, split up and divide in order to grow. The HUGE breakthrough for me was that I have always held onto the thought that the break-up of the church was a bad thing not a good thing. And that the constant division of one church breaking up into two churches was a sign of weakness and failure. With this new insight it put a lot of things into a total new perspective for me.

You see – perhaps from the very beginning God allowed that our weaknesses would be a source of strength for the whole body of Christ. Our divisions (a bad thing perhaps but transformed by God into good) would spread the Kingdom of God not necessarily divide it! All my life I thought it was such a shame that the Church just keeps splitting and splitting. And it was happening from the very beginning – not just with the Protestant/Catholic thing. It started practically from day one with Adam and Eve and their kids and their kids and on and on.

Each time that split happens Beth shared it brings a REMIX into our lives. When we leave a relationship or job or place it causes a shake-up in our lives. This can happen not through any fault of our own. It can happen with an accident, a death, a loss of job, a new job, retirement or almost anything that causes a life change. This remix forces us to do things differently. To make new friends, try new things, experience new ways of living, growing and being.

This REMIX is not a bad thing and in fact in many cases it is a GOD thing. Sometimes in our own stubbornness or inability to see or understand we stay stuck in relationships and jobs and places rather than move when we feel the nudge of the Holy Spirit to get out of our comfort zone. So God allows shake-ups in our life so that we learn (over and over) that we are to rely on HIM not on people, places or things.

For me on a more personal level it was \”OH MY, perhaps this is why I left the monastery. I was starting to feel more and more trapped by how things were developing and changing. And these changes came about naturally, through the death of some of the older sisters that I relied on and the new regrowth that was developing after that, was not something I found myself growing into. It was not the fault of the sisters that stayed or even of me – it was just a REMIX and that meant what was working before for me was not working now.

Asking what would have happened if I stayed in the monastery would be like asking what would have happened if Martin Luther had not left? It was something that the times and the circumstances thrust him into. That split turned the church topsy-turvy but it was not just one man (priest) leaving it was the whole pot fermenting and bubbling over till something happened. Change! REMIX.

My saintly mentor in leaving the monastery was Saint Anthony of Padua who left the order of Augustinians to join the order of Saint Francis. Should he have stayed? Would he have done the great things he did in the Franciscan order in the Augustinian order? Who knows? What about Mother Theresa? If she had stayed with her community would she have done the great things that came as a result of her REMIX?

I think even of my own parents who both experienced a divorce before meeting each other, getting married and having 7 more children. That was a total REMIX and it resulted in some good things. (At least for me as I would never have been born if it had not happened.) Good things and bad things happen as a result of the changes that happen in our life.

We can fight or resist the change or we can praise God and embrace it. Life never, ever holds still.

So there you have it, my insights on day one of the Beth Moore Bible study. The funny thing is that last night when it came time to share, I didn\’t. I had all these thoughts that were percolating but nothing felt solid enough to share. Now I have dumped the whole load on you! Oh well, read what you want and leave the rest. Good advice from 12 step that works for almost everything!

 

Today’s Hangman: September 17 All Games | Mahjong, | Simon Says, | Word Search | Memory Games