Thoughtful About . . . Lost Truth

by Roseanna White | Jan 21, 2016 | Thoughtful Thursdays

(First, I’d like to apologize for my blog being abandoned this week–we’ve had internet connectivity issues, and though I thought I posted, it didn’t go through, apparently…so those posts will just be saved until next week, LOL.)

In our homeschool Bible reading, we’re currently in 2 Chronicles. I sometimes dread reading those Old Testament books to the kids, because I remember Xoe’s reaction last time we went through them in a Bible story book. The heartbreak in her eyes as she asked, each time I read a heading about a new king, “Does this one love God?” And all too often having to answer, “No, baby. This one did what was wrong in the eyes of God.”

It can be a sad, sad history to read. But this week we got to the story of Josiah in 2 Chronicles 33-34. A king that sought after God. Who tore down the high places. Who had the house of the Lord cleaned and ordered and ready for service.

And I love this part of the story–how in preparing the temple for service again, the priests and Levites found the book of the Law of Moses. In a wall. Where, presumably, it had been hidden to avoid destruction by some devout man of generations past. But when? How long ago? Because no one knew it was there…and worse, no one seemed to know it was missing.

Think of it. The one copy of these words from God himself (presumably, since no one knew what it said anymore, so it isn’t as thought it was just the old copy found). THE way to know what God of expected of them.

Gone.
Missing.
Vanished.

Buried under generations of rubble. Under disbelief. Under hatred. Under the constant battle between those who served God and those who sought after Baal. Buried under generations of rubbish.

Then found again. The priest rushed it to King Josiah and read it to him. And Josiah tore his clothes, because he finally realized how wrong they’d all been. He begged God for mercy. He called all the people to come and hear His word. And they came. And they repented. And they rejoiced. They held a Passover for the first time in generations.

In this day and age, in this country, we have the Word of God everywhere. I have a whole shelf full of Bibles. I have a smart phone and a computer with every possible translation available at my fingertips. We have the Word all around us.

But how often is it buried? Buried under generations of rubble. Under disbelief. Under hatred. Under the constant battle between those who serve God and those who serve the world. Buried under generations of rubbish.

The walls covering it now are worse, aren’t they? Because they’re metaphorical. Invisible. And an invisible enemy is, I have always said, the scariest.

This enemy doesn’t need to destroy the physical books…because instead he can distort our understanding of it. How much more effective is that? How many lies does the modern church belief?

God doesn’t do that anymore.
 That was only for the first century church.

Or perhaps more specifically.

When God warns against loving money, he’s talking to the REALLY rich, not to me.
He doesn’t ask ALL of us to give things up.
That warning is for someone else.

We’re so quick to read a warning in the New Testament and try to figure out who else it applies to. But I say this–let our first question be, “Lord, am I guilty of this? If so, forgive me–and show me how to fix it.”

It took those priests and Levites months to purge the Temple building of years of garbage in 2 Chronicles. Purification isn’t a quick process. It took the messengers months to spread the word to the people. But truth spread, and in this case, prevailed.

They tossed out all the trash. They burned it. More–and this is something that struck me as I read it–they ground it all up to dust and scattered that dust to the winds. How’s that for symbolic actions?

What’s cluttering up our faith these days? What walls have we shoved it into? What idols and trash and abominations have we let pile up in front of it? What Truths are we ignoring?

When we find one, I pray we don’t just shove it aside a little…rearranging it. I pray we break it down. Grind it to dust. And scatter it to the wind. I pray we fall to our knees and repent, seek God with a brand new fervor.

I pray we take whatever time is needed to purify ourselves. And to fill our ears with His Truth.

Thoughtful About . . . The Path

by Roseanna White | Jan 7, 2016 | Thoughtful Thursdays

In October, my husband David and father went to Bulgaria. Their goal was the refugee camp in Harmanli, on the Turkish/Bulgarian border. Their purpose was to interview Syrian refugees and learn their story.

The result is a short film called Along the Path. Where my passion has always been the written word, my husband is feeling a call toward visual stories. I’m so proud of all he’s doing and praying I can support him as he has always supported me in my dreams.

In Along the Path, you’ll hear from a variety of refugees at the camp–a few who had only been in Bulgaria a few months. A few who had been there for years and had gone from being refugees to being volunteers who help other refugees. And you’ll hear from me, in the studio–my film debut, LOL. (I’m a STAR! Ahem. Cough, cough.)

If you have thirty minutes and wonder what these millions of refugees are experiencing, why they’re leaving their homes, and what they expect from the future, I encourage you to watch Along the Path. Hearing what these people have gone through has forever changed my outlook on the situation. I know it will do the same for others.