Happy Sukkot! Or as we would say it in Hebrew, Chag Sameach!
This week (last Sunday to this Sunday) has been the Jewish festival of "booths," or tents. It is a time for us to remember the 40 years that the Israelites wandered in the desert. Traditionally, the families would all build a small booth/tent outside and pretty much go camping all week. They sleep and eat outside and spend the time celebrating with each other. It is a time of giving to the poor, inviting friends over for parties, barbecuing, and in general have a good time! It is actually known as "the season of our joy," and for good reason. It is one of my favorite holidays, even though my family doesn't actually camp for the week (I would love to!) There are a lot of traditions around it, and we try to follow it as much as we can. The biggest part being bonfires and barbecues - eating dinner outside as a family and spending time with each other. It's pretty much the best thing ever. I was reflecting on it today since I have missed the last few nights. Someone even build a booth here on campus (in Hawaii) which brought my heart great joy! But no one really uses it. It's kind of business as usual, which is sad but not the end of the world. Anyways, this morning I sat and mulled over the holiday and it's meaning. Even if I can't go out and party with my family each night, I still want to appreciate the heart behind this very important season. Sukkot is the remembrance of Israel's wandering. They had rejected the promised land and refused to stand on God's promise, so He banished them to stay in the desert until the entire wicked generation died and the nation could try again with a fresh start. It was a time of trial and of dryness. People often use the term "desert season" to describe a time of testing or feeling directionless, and this is definitely where that term gets its meaning. That is why it is so interesting to me that it is celebrated as Israel's most joyous holiday. Instead of this being a time of mourning or solemn contemplation, it is a time of feasting and generosity. Of appreciating the bounty God has given us and the relationships that bring us together. Initially, this may appear to be an odd contradiction, but the more I prayed the more God showed me just how in line it is with His heart. God was not needlessly punishing Israel by sending them back out into the desert. He was disciplining them because He loved them as dearly beloved children. (Pr 3:12) He wanted them to grow and trust Him and He wanted to give them a second chance. I think it is so interesting how similar the words 'disciple' and 'discipline' are. They come from the same root word and have largely the same meaning, yet I feel like we tend to have vastly different responses to the two. The disciples were those who got to walk and talk with Jesus - they gave up everything to follow His teaching and emulate him. They are honored and looked up to, but I don't think we grasp what that discipleship looked like in the day to day. While 'disciple' is looked up to, I know many people (including myself) have cringed internally at the mention of 'discipline.' Discipline is often paralleled with punishment, which nobody likes, but I think it's more than that. Discipline is how we go about being disciples. We submit to God as our father as we desire Him to shape us into His image, and that often comes in the form of smoothing out our rough edges and teaching us that His ways really are better than ours. This sometimes painful and irritating process is known as discipline, and for the Israelite it came in the form of a nation wide reboot - letting another generation try again. Even though the process is undoubtedly painful, I think the joy of the season is a valuable lesson that it is still something to be celebrated. The end result is what God is looking for and what we should be anticipating. I know for myself that that is much easier said than done, which is why it is excellent to have such a reminder in my life. Celebrating Sukkot isn't just a traditional BBQ, it's a cultural reminder of what God had to do to bring us into His promised land and that it was all worth it. That our good came out of it, and that is worth celebrating wholeheartedly. In my own life, I have just transitioned from living and working in California to being welcomed back into the community here at YWAM. I would not consider life at home to be my desert, but it is also admittedly much drier, and forced me to come to terms with a lot of hard lessons. I did feel directionless a lot of the time, and didn't always have much of a community around me to lean on. I am now rejoicing to be back in my second home, the place where I have already been given so much from God and where He has planted my heart for some unknown reason. I am still directionless in some ways, but at the same time I know I have heard God's voice in calling me back here and have heeded it. I have stepped out and crossed the line into His leading, and I can rejoice in knowing that He is bringing me into even more alignment with His heart. Whether it be through trial or blessing, I know that it is all with my best in His heart that God does anything.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
ErikaJeremiah 29:11 Archives
March 2023
Categories |
|