Bottled-Up Emotions

This vintage steamer trunk belonged to Terry Hutchison's grandmother. It survived the San Francisco earthquake of  1906.

Our "bottled-up" emotions from Ladies' Bible Class.

We are having fun with our Group Projects in Ladies' Bible Class on Tuesday mornings.  Call it the Lab portion of our study in the book of Malachi. Our author, Lisa Harper, has challenged us to "get real" with God, and has suggested some pretty creative ways to do that.

The short book of Malachi is written in a literary style called "rhetorical disputation, which basically means that God's people were getting smart with Him," our author explains. God had some concerns about the relationship. He had been generous and kind, a good teacher and provider. But, the Israelites, his chosen people, were not reflecting God's good character in their lives. So, God initiated what we would call a "Come to Jesus meetin'" today. He shared with them that he had had high hopes for them with all their potential and good training and excellent provision. But they had been selfish and wasteful and foolish. Their behavior was a disappointment to him.

When God shared his feelings with his children, they reacted in classic teenage talk-back. They asked questions that were really just thinly veiled accusations, aimed at getting God to feel guilty for not meeting their unrealistic and selfish expectations. 

As we looked at these people's "fussing" at God, our author encouraged us to think of questions and "fussing" we have toward God. She challenged us to write down those issues and inspect them in light of God's character and plan as revealed in Isaiah 55:8,9 and Isaiah 49:11.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,
As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts."
 (Isaiah 55:8,9 New International Version)

"I will turn all my mountains into roads,
and my highways will be raised up."
 (Isaiah 49:11 New International Version)

God's economy has a way of equalizing human effort and achievement. Jesus told his disciples that "whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." (Matthew 23:12) And, he said, "there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last." (Luke 13:30)

We, like the Israelites, can get easily confused, and think God's blessing is on those who "come in first" in life's contest for wealth or prestige or health or beauty, instead of seeing that God's love will only provide what is in our best interest.

So, we put some of our questions and assorted "fussings" into a jar, where they will stay until the end of our study. At that time, we will pull them out and read them, knowing that not all our questions will be answered or our expectations met. But, hopefully, we will have a better sense of who God is, of his unchanging love and character, of his loyalty, his faithfulness and his wisdom in our lives and the lives of those we love. And we will offer that jar of questions and assorted "fussings" to him as a "sacrifice of praise" (Hebrews 13:15)--we will acknowledge that we do not have all the answers but we trust a God who does and who loves us dearly and who only has our best interest at heart.

The second jar on our shelf, with the skull and cross bones on the label, is for "Stopped-Up Hopes". Those are hopes we've cherished, prayed for, had faith for, looked for, but hopes that have never materialized. Like the Israelites in Malachi 1:2, we have questioned God's love for us, because of the poison of our bitter disappointment. We wrote our "Stopped-Up Hopes" on paper, where they will stay, in that jar, until the end of our class, when we will open them in God's presence. As we read them aloud, we will offer them to the God who knows the time and place for everything, and who does not want "anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)

The vintage steamer trunk is for clothing, jewelry and accessories from our closets and drawers. And not the stuff we were going to get rid of anyway. We are supposed to put in nice things--things we actually still would wear because they look nice and are currently in style. Why? Because God gives us only the best to meet our needs. When we give him our old, ugly, rejected stuff, we hurt his feelings. The Israelites of Malachi's day (Malachi 1:6-14) were doing this. They were bringing crippled and diseased animals to the Temple as sacrifices, instead of bringing the best animals to God. This showed a basic lack of respect. It was like saying "God has the word "STUPID" tattooed across his forehead!" God challenged his people to try paying their taxes with substandard goods and see if their government would accept payment.

In the same way, would the IRS accept our "yard sale" donations today as payment of our income taxes? Try it and let me know how that orange jumpsuit fits you!

So, our vintage steamer trunk will sit at our classroom door through the end our term. It is for donation of really nice clothes, jewelry and accessories. The kind you spent good money for. As our very clever Bible study author suggested, we are calling this steamer trunk the "No Crippled Cows Campaign".

At the end of our study together, we will donate these items to one or more charities and take a tour of at least one of the local charities that ministers to women.

This will be fun!

--Posted by Mama O.