Straining At Gnats and Swallowing The Camel

We had good plans for today. Then, we had a child who needed an ER visit and a subsequent COVID-19 test (results not yet in). Jon taught our family church like when we lived in Injibara and now the kids are curled up watching “Prince of Egypt”. Staring out the window upon the rainy gray skies, I’m simultaneously tired from a night of disrupted sleep, thankful everyone is okay and bugged at the possibility our next two weeks will be shaped by the walls of our deliciously cozy (read also small) house. This is part of the reason this blog has been so quiet, so many conflicting feelings and desires at one time. This has been a season on the worldwide stage of so many voices, so many opinions, significant misunderstanding and “othering”. It feels like throwing my voice into the vacuum may serve to alienate instead of build bridges, throw up defenses instead of healthy dialogue. We don’t need more noise. Though my Sabbath plans are different, I’m praying the unexpected quiet, unplanned hours would bring clarity on the murky waters in my heart and replaced with clean streams. I need more of God. My heart yearns to be Bible-saturated but my flesh pulls me towards Facebook-informed. I beg God that instead of my focus on tithing the appropriate amounts of mint, dill and cumin, I will not “have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness.” And that last phrase, I see myself here, oof. “straining at the gnat and swallowing the camel!” (Matt. 23-23&24) I’m praying for you today, the more faithful reader than I deserve, still checking this dormant space. Praying for us, for our hearts to find refuge in the shadow of God’s wings. Praying we would be as iron pillars in essential matters, unbending and unwavering and as flexible reeds in the nonessentials, bending with the wind but not breaking, and may God give us the wisdom to know the difference. “How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.” Psalm 36-7-9