“Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand.” — Mark Twain
Eleven Days to Rest
I was reading Deuteronomy the other day, and I had trouble getting past verse 2 of the book before this passage started to bother me and my mind started to wander off in a different direction. (Maybe it is just me, but sometimes my mind has a mind of its own.) Verse 2 says, “Normally it takes only eleven days to travel from Mount Sinai to Kadesh-barnea” (NLT).
In other words, a simple journey that should have taken about two weeks took thirty-eight years (they had already stayed two years at Mt. Sinai – Numbers 1:1). It made me wonder how many times I’ve over-stayed my welcome in one place because I murmured, complained and doubted God’s word. I’d hate to count.
Last Wednesday, Barbara and I were co-teaching the book of James to a small group. After spending an hour talking about the book, we barely finished James 1:2, which tells us to consider it an opportunity for great joy when troubles come our way. Doesn’t that sound easy and fun?
The phone call came, as they usually do, at an inconvenient time. It was my mom, calling from Mississippi, telling me in Baton Rouge that my dad was in the hospital in California and had cancer. This was definitely not convenient. I called my dad and told him I was flying out in a couple of days to see him. He said he was looking forward to my visit.
Thinking Out Loud 