Our world and culture is spinning out of control. How does one
even identify NORMAL any more? If normal is the natural standard or common type
that serves as a governor for the kind of “norm” for a culture, then how is a
family going to define what is the norm for our families today? The world would
have us believe and accept there is a "new normal"
for family. As we celebrate Mother’s Day this month and then Father’s Day
in June, I want to identify and embrace the norm of God’s standard for the
family and family relationships. I believe there is a Normal Family from
God’s perspective but "The new normal is neither normal or
new".
Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 1:9 - "there is
nothing NEW under the sun". So, where can we go to find normal?
I invite us to turn to God. In Deuteronomy 28:1-7:
"If you fully obey the Lord
your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord
your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come upon you
and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God..."
It is normal for those who trust God's standards to experience
His blessings. In Matthew 12:13, Jesus heals a man's hand and the Bible
reads, "And he stretched (his hand) it out, and it was restored
to "normal", like the other. (NASB) The word here for normal is
the word that describes "wholeness". I believe this is the key. That
God would restore our families to His normal = to "wholeness".
This Sunday May 12, we celebrate Mothers Day. Almost 100 years
ago, by an act of Congress, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second
Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. He established the day as a time for “public
expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country.” This
Mothers Day I want to consider Hannah, a model of a "normal"
godly mother. Hannah stands out as a model of a godly mother in the Bible.
(1 Samuel 1-2) Hannah lived a life of persistence through her faith in God. Her
life impacted and influenced the course of an entire nation. Because
Hannah trusted in the Lord through faith, God used Hannah’s inability to have a
child as the starting point to work a miracle and be a blessing for many.
Our inability and hopelessness are no barriers for God
to work in our lives. They are not barriers to His blessings but may be the
very pathways He uses to bring us in brokenness before His throne of grace that
we might EXPERIENCE His BREAKTHROUGH and blessing! I believe this is God's
normal.
Thanking God for the awesome wonder of our "normal"
mom's.
Garry
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