check the specs in your perspective

Have you ever watched a movie more than once? Perhaps on the second time around you heard a line you didn't remember hearing the first time? Or maybe the seventh time through you noticed something hidden in the background that although not crucial to understanding the movie, made it make just that much more sense? Well I will confide in you that I tend to be a big fan of movies and I have watched my fair share of movies more than one time. For instance, tonight I watched a new movie I got a second time and with a different group of people. One of the people I watched the movie with pointed out that the main character almost always wore blue...this was symbolic of something, and we tried together to figure out the story beyond the plot. And I find that thinking through the significance of the little details I learn with each time I watch help me to better understand and better appreciate the whole.

Interestingly enough, tonight I was having a slightly rough night--thinking about a lot and just not in a great overall mood. I was reading back through a journal of some scripture notes I had taken from my assistant pastor preaching over a year ago. He was teaching out of Proverbs 3. It was almost like I immediately shrugged it off when I read that, not looking deeper to see what else I could learn. It was as if I thought "oh, Proverbs 3:5-6, must have been a great message since I've heard the 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths' a million times." Shame on me. Just because you've heard a scripture quoted, had it memorized, or seen it on a plaque or bookmark doesn't it make it any less powerful. It shouldn't. So I flipped to Proverbs 3.

Proverbs 3 is a beautiful chapter I recommend rereading that talks about wisdom, guidance for the young, and giving and receiving. I knew wisdom was here, and I've read this chapter many many times before, but God had something else to say to me.

Recently, I've been thinking a lot more about becoming a better me, and it's almost like I've received a lot of word from others about things I need to fix. I'll admit that it's gotten me down thinking that sometimes the things I say come across as mean or rude to others, or just the fact that words I've spoken have unintentionally really hurt someone. So I'm working on this. And I hope my efforts will have good results for both me and those around me (if you could send up a prayer about this, that would be great). So as I cracked into Proverbs 3, I got to verses 11 and 12 which say, "My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest His correction; For whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights." So as I'm burdened down with this weight almost of guilt and wrong and feeling like I've got progress to make or that I've put a bad light on Christians by my actions, God reminds me 'Hey, I love you and it's because of that that I want you to become even more like me.'

So thank you, God, for continuing to speak to me even when I fail to look for you or fail to seek you as I should. And to wrap back to the original story (hope I didn't lose you), just as we watch movies over and over and learn new things or still get something out of them, we should also look for new things to learn each time we reread something in the Bible. I find that as our own perspective develops or as we face different situations in our lives, we will get something else out of it. And even if we learned nothing new, I find I'm often so hardheaded that I need to hear things repeated over and over sometimes before I'll listen. Also, I mentioned that I watched the same movie with 2 different groups and picked up on different things. This is also true with reading and studying the Bible. I find that each of us has a different perspective thanks to our own life stories. Sharing and discussing the Word with others and being open to their understanding of it is important. You may learn something with one group that you may not have learned with another or on your own.

So rejoice in chastising of God, that He loves you and you're on your way to a better you. Also, rejoice in the fact that God has not stopped speaking to us through His Word, even in all the many ways we approach it and times we read it.