36. The Bible is a record of God meeting difficult circumstances with necessary actions.
For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives. {Hebrews 12:6}
The Bible, particularly the Old Testament, isn’t an easy read. After the first two chapters, human history is riddled with evil, violence, debauchery, immorality, and idolatry. But along with all the awful stuff, there is the story of a God who refuses to give up on His creation. Even when things are the darkest, even when they can’t get any worse, God is keeping His promises to be faithful, doing whatever is necessary to keep His children from being totally swept away by the tide of wickedness.
Sometimes those necessary actions are difficult to understand and hard to read about. But even the things that we consider “good” — such as the formation of the nation of Israel and the giving of the law and the first advent of the Messiah — these were all actions necessary to meet the terrible emergency of the war in God’s universe and our rebellion.
That’s why it’s so important to keep reading the Bible, especially the unsavory parts, no matter how difficult it is. For only there do we find the big picture of a God who will stick with us through the very worst of times, a God who is willing to do the hard things for our best good.
If you want to dig deeper—
Genesis 3:15
Genesis 6:5-7
Genesis 17:9-14
Leviticus 10:1-7
Numbers 16
Jeremiah 52:4-27
Acts 5:1-11
Acts 9:1-19