{"id":1567,"date":"2012-06-04T17:09:36","date_gmt":"2012-06-04T22:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/giveusthisdaydevotional.com\/?p=1567"},"modified":"2012-06-04T17:09:36","modified_gmt":"2012-06-04T22:09:36","slug":"tuesday-of-trinity-sunday-acts-717-34","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/giveusthisday\/tuesday-of-trinity-sunday-acts-717-34\/","title":{"rendered":"Tuesday of Trinity Sunday – Acts 7:17-34"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/h3>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Moses had a mid-life crisis.\u00a0 Actually, he had two of them, 40 years apart.\u00a0 I like the symmetry of Moses\u2019 life, and even though I doubt I\u2019ll live to 120, there are some hidden lessons in Moses\u2019 life.<\/p>\n

In Moses\u2019 first mid-life crisis, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel.\u00a0 Although Moses was a grown man by now, he acted in an impetuous and even childish way, blindly retaliating for a fellow Hebrew he saw being oppressed.\u00a0 By his second mid-life crisis, 40 years later, he had learned to follow God and not try to lead Him.<\/p>\n

In fact, the difference between the two Moseses is an illustration of two different foci we may have in our lives: a focus on self and our own abilities or a focus on God.\u00a0 Even the way we read this passage has hidden meaning for whether we choose the kingdom of man or the kingdom of God.\u00a0 For while we might (and should) draw lessons about ourselves in this passage, and Stephen told the story of Moses to answer the charges of the Jews, there is another Character we should first see in this story: and that is God Himself.<\/p>\n

Only God in Stephen\u2019s story can bridge the 500 years between Abraham and Moses.\u00a0 Only God has the staying power, both in terms of longevity and faithfulness, to fulfill His promises to Abraham and His Seed forever.\u00a0 It was God alone who preserved Moses, the way He also preserved Israel, and the way He still preserves His people today.<\/p>\n

It was God who would deliver His people Israel from their afflictions.\u00a0 Moses had one thing right: God indeed had appointed him to be the one by whom God would deliver His people.\u00a0 But He had another thing wrong: it was God, in His way and in His time, who would do this.<\/p>\n

So Moses had to wait another 40 years.\u00a0 This time, there would be no mistake of who was in charge.\u00a0 Moses had settled down and appeared to be content to dwell in Midian the rest of his days.\u00a0 But then the Lord appeared to Moses in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the burning bush that was not consumed.\u00a0 It was God who revealed Himself to Moses, and not the other way around.\u00a0 All Moses could do was tremble and not dare to look (verse 32).<\/p>\n

It was God who came down to deliver His people, and now was the time that He had appointed, and Moses was the person He had appointed to do the delivering.<\/p>\n

I find that too often I am like Moses when he was 40.\u00a0 It\u2019s all too easy to believe, even when I believe in God and His purposes, that I\u2019m really the one who matters.\u00a0 God is a fascinating but mysterious Character in our lives.\u00a0 We know He is there but He is often silent and invisible to us.\u00a0 He is actually like the Author of our stories, and we, His characters, think we have a life of our own.\u00a0 He is not only the Author but also the Narrator telling the story and one of the Characters, if you will.<\/p>\n

When God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, Moses could have not doubt that it was God and that God had now come for him (Moses) to go and lead His people.\u00a0 But it\u2019s not always so clear to us.\u00a0 It\u2019s the difference between Moses who actually saw the burning bush and heard an audible voice, and us, who only get to read about what Moses experienced.\u00a0 And some of us don\u2019t have very powerful imaginations.<\/p>\n

There are two ways that my acting and thinking without God can get me into trouble.\u00a0 The first is the way of Moses, and depending on your temperament, this may be more of your temptation.\u00a0 It\u2019s the way of thinking or acting as if I can do it alone.\u00a0 God has called me to save the Israelites.\u00a0 I don\u2019t see or hear Him.\u00a0 There\u2019s an Israelite being mistreated.\u00a0 I guess it\u2019s up to me to do something.<\/p>\n

The second is the way of fear.\u00a0 It also involves thinking or acting as if I can conquer life alone.\u00a0 It\u2019s just a less cocky way of failing without God and getting into trouble.\u00a0 It is to be aware of how rocky life can be but to be overwhelmed by it.\u00a0 Knowing how hard life is, the way of fear is to still choose to try to deal with it by myself.<\/p>\n

Both are variations on the same theme of treating God as if He is not the most important character in the story of my life and, in fact, its Author.<\/p>\n

But your job is to keep God always as the main character and Author of your story.\u00a0 Don\u2019t wait for Him to enter in stage left as a burning bush: He\u2019s not likely to do it.\u00a0 The truth is, He\u2019s already there, and your job is to acknowledge it.<\/p>\n

Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote about the \u201cwilling suspension of disbelief,\u201d by which we read a work of fiction and assume its premises, even if they are, in reality, unbelievable.\u00a0 But living in God\u2019s story which is your story, you are to exercise what I call the \u201cwilling activation of belief,\u201d or, simply, faith<\/em>.\u00a0 To enter into certain stories of fiction (including movies), I actually have to deny part of myself and what I know to be true, in order to enjoy a fantasy.<\/p>\n

But to enter into God\u2019s story and the story of my life, I have to accept more deeply what I know to be true but can\u2019t readily apprehend.\u00a0 We have trained ourselves to read novels and enjoy movies by suspending some of who we are and believe.<\/p>\n

Why don\u2019t we try in the novels and movies which are our lives to imagine more fully what is most truly here: God Himself?\u00a0 Try it, and you\u2019ll find that your life comes to life, and God, that most important Character, will receive the glory that is due Him.<\/p>\n

Prayer:\u00a0 O God the Creator of heaven and earth, O Christ the Author of my salvation, O Spirit who animates the story of my life: I ask that You would so enter into my life today that in all things I would see You and in all my ways acknowledge You.\u00a0 Amen.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Points for Meditation:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 In what ways do I need to be delivered by the Lord?<\/strong><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 In what ways can I acknowledge God to be the main character in my story?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Resolution:\u00a0 I resolve to be prepared to look for how God will enter the story of my life today.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2012 Fr. Charles Erlandson<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Moses had a mid-life crisis.\u00a0 Actually, he had two of them, 40 years apart.\u00a0 I like the symmetry of Moses\u2019 life, and even though I doubt I\u2019ll live to 120, there are some hidden lessons in Moses\u2019 life. In Moses\u2019 first mid-life crisis, it came into his heart to visit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2856,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[80,103,920,1574,2156,2175],"class_list":["post-1567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-give-us-this-day","tag-abraham","tag-acts-7","tag-god-as-author","tag-moses","tag-st-stephens-sermon","tag-story"],"yoast_head":"\nTuesday of Trinity Sunday - Acts 7:17-34<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"willing suspension of disbelief, story of your life, main character, mid-life crisis, Moses, Abraham, St. Stephen\u2019s sermon, Acts 7, God as author, daily devotional\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/giveusthisday\/tuesday-of-trinity-sunday-acts-717-34\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tuesday of Trinity Sunday - Acts 7:17-34\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"willing suspension of disbelief, story of your life, main character, mid-life crisis, Moses, Abraham, St. Stephen\u2019s sermon, Acts 7, God as author, daily devotional\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/giveusthisday\/tuesday-of-trinity-sunday-acts-717-34\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Give Us This Day\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-04T22:09:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/giveusthisday\/files\/2012\/06\/St.-Stephen-Preaching-Carpaccio1-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fr. 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