Still Reading

I'm still reading the Bible, a few chapters each night.  I've reached chapter 28 in Genesis and I'm enjoying it for the intricacies of the story.  It's amazing how many details one forgets after a few years, so some parts feel almost brand new.

I'm learning a lot about human nature and also seeing some of the choices people made in those days through my "counsellor eyes."  What would I say to a client who tells me that, because her husband is afraid of the power of the ruling noble in their new country, she has to pretend to be not her husband's wife but his sister?  That's what Abraham made Sarah do ... and she did it!  Abraham allowed her to be taken into the ruler's household as one of his women!  What kind of a marriage was that?  How would I help this woman regain trust and confidence in her husband?  How could she respect him after that?

 And we haven't changed that much yet in our day and age.  I've had clients struggling with relationships in which their partner tries to force them to have sex with someone else.  These days we call that abuse ... and I wonder if God didn't think the same when Abraham's cowardice put Sarah into such an abusive situation.  But God also saw the good in Abraham and kept reassuring him that he would see the fruition of all God's promises to him.

 How encouraging it is for me to know that there's always hope; perhaps I've made some wrong choices but God can work through, or around, them.  My weaknesses don't have to stop his plans for me, which is, of course, much more than I, or any of us, deserve.

I'm going to read a few more chapters now.  What will I discover about human beings and God tonight?