Heavy stuff, civil war, and all for the sake of one woman and one Levite whose names we never learn. There’s a song I like that says, “and the story’s never over if the story isn’t good.” That’s the thing about tragedy, isn’t it? It always, always brings about good stuff. I think one of the main questions Christians get from non-Christians is, why does God let bad things happen? Of course, I can’t answer that with facts, but in my older age and having experienced some bad things myself, I can say that I truly believe I wouldn’t have seen the joy in many things without having experienced those horrible things. Like if our lives were always peachy-keen, we wouldn’t realize blessing and joy because those things would just be everyday, ho-hum, it’s-another-beautiful-day-in-the-neighborhood types of events. That’s my best answer anyway. So, what about Heaven then? Must we experience tragedy in Heaven to appreciate the magnitude of blessings there? I don’t think so. I think that’s one of many beauties of Heaven that we as humans can’t conceive. Wow. I’ve gone way out there with this chapter, which is about a civil war fought over the death of one woman (and a Levite who did an incredibly cowardice move) and the fact that God used an individual tragedy to bring about a nationwide tragedy that actually united the kingdom of Israel and weeded out the bad seeds in the Tribe of Benjamin. Mind blowing. I love it and don’t like it so much.
Writing prompt: bad seeds
Sometimes we cheer when God weeds out the bad seeds, but the truth of the matter is, sometimes all the seeds that get weeded out aren’t seen by others as bad. We can take a broad view of tragedy when all we have is numbers. In other words, if we don’t know a person who suffered from the tragedy, we can only lend an empathetic heart to a nameless, faceless number. That’s tough to do! For instance, if there are 6 million cases of sex trafficking victims per year, but we didn’t know a single person who had ever landed in the sex trade, all we can do really is say, “Ewww, that’s horrible.” But if we meet and get to know even one of those girls (or guys), our hearts will change dramatically. I think God picks and chooses individuals to experience different tragedies so that every lost soul in the world is covered. I hope that makes sense because what I want to ask today is, where is your heart? Do you have a cause? Do you ache for certain people groups or victim circles? Write about what makes your heart burst with love and pain, and write about why and how you came to feel this way. Pick out the bad seeds and nurture the good ones today.
jugglingfire.com 