A Mish-mash of Stories, and a Mystery or Two

Some people say they just can’t believe in God or Jesus because the stories from the Bible sound so far out. They feel they have to understand it all and are not ready to do that. They say they can’t believe in an angel who comes and tells Mary that she’s going to conceive a baby—as a virgin.  

Well, it is hard to understand! But Sunday I found a pastor’s sermon (looking toward Easter and all) exploring the “Mystery” of God, Jesus, and angels to be refreshing if we carefully look through the Bible. Many of the persons whose stories are told in the Bible found God or Jesus difficult to understand or believe, too. And were content to deal with mystery for eons.

I’m no trained preacher or pastor but I try to make sense of things as I write or listen or read. This pastor shared various examples in the Old Testament where prophets point to these mysteries. One example is how Isaiah, a prophet, (in the book of Isaiah 7:14) tells Ahaz (when Ahaz was king of Judah) that “the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” [which means God with us]. Of course, a few generations later, that prophecy came true and THAT was hard for the actual young virgin Mary to believe also.

Let’s jump to a different kind of mystery here. Here in Virginia we’ve been fortunate to not only have enjoyed (not sure we really loved it,) a fairly heavy snow back in January. This heavy snow quickly hardened into real ice, and is still melting on March 8. By the looks of things, my husband and I found many examples over a March 5-6 trip to mountainous West Virginia where much snow is still melting. So for me, some of the current mystery is how the water has greened up the grass, and we’re even seeing a daffodil or two. You can explain it with seeds and bulbs and eventually food in our gardens, but there is also mystery in how the earth takes seeds and water and air and brings about growth. And we accept that. And appreciate it as a gift of nature and God and the amazing world we live in. Yes, scientists explore and figure out why and how, but sometimes it is also a mystery, right?

A little illustration: When our three daughters were born (each several years apart) we (husband and I) knew and saw that mystery launching right from my own body.

We were ecstatic and rejoiced; years later, we have been gifted with seven grandchildren who came out of bodies who earlier came from us. The grandchildren wouldn’t have been birthed without us along the way. Something of a mystery!

Mountains and plains and rivers and dinosaurs are hard to understand unless you study mysterious, eons-old history. I think I can live with a little mystery figuring out where heaven is or isn’t, in what we now know is a very vast universe, where God lives or maybe floats around. When we die will we see the actual Jesus, or a version that apparently went through doors after his crucifixion and rebirth.

I would love to know everything behind the mysteries but those aren’t for me to know now. God in Christ is enough. God is at work, through billions of years. Colossians 1:24-27 says “… the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Gentiles were persons who were not of Israelite heritage.)

The words from Colossians above, say a lot. It means that God loves us all. And that we need to love each other all over the world.

How about you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Share below.

With thanks to a local pastor, Robert Wenger, who used numerous biblical verses this past Sunday to help us understand God’s workings and our waiting.