Oh, and Nehemiah

 This past year has been ONE.CRAZY.YEAR. When we decided to put our sights on KC, John accepted a job where he'd be working for himself but with a referral source out of Overland Park, KS. So, he was driving back and forth each week from September 2021 until we moved this summer. So, I was a single parent a good portion of the year. We were both working "busy seasons" in the Spring. I was also trying to help John stay afloat. (He has brought in clients hand over fist and has had difficulty keeping up!) I was also managing my own transition at work, kids in school and sports, etc., etc., etc. So... it really is incredible to be able to tell you that I've been reading the Bible through this year and have never been more than about 10 days behind all year. So, right now I'm reading through the book of Nehemiah, and Nehemiah 9 has really jumped off the page at me.

Nehemiah 9 consists of the Israelites recounting God's faithfulness to them - despite them turning away from him again and again and again and again (you get it). But here's a record of God's responses to their unfaithfulness:

v8 - "... you have done what you promised, for you are always true to your word."

v15 - "You gave them bread from heaven when they were hungry and water from the rock when they were thirsty."

v17 - "But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry, and full of unfailing love and mercy. You did not abandon them."

v19 - "But in your great mercy you did not abandon them to die in the wilderness."

v20 - "You sent your good Spirit to instruct them."

v21 - "For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness. They lacked nothing in all that time. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell!"

v25 - "Our ancestors captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took over houses full of good things, with cisterns already dug and vineyards and olive groves and orchards in abundance. So they ate until they were full and grew fat and enjoyed themselves in all your blessings."

 v27 - "In great mercy, you sent them deliverers who rescued them from their enemies."

v28 - "In your wonderful mercy, you rescued them repeatedly!"

v30 - "In your love, you were patient with them for many years. You sent your Spirit..."

v31 - "But in your great mercy, you did not destroy them completely or abandon them forever. What a gracious and merciful God you are!"

v32 - "And now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of unfailing love..."

v33 - "Every time you punished us you were being just. We have sinned greatly, and you gave us only what we deserved."

v35 - "...you showered your goodness on them."

If you couldn't guess it, in between those verses are all the examples of the Israelites rejecting God - they were proud and stubborn, they refused to obey, refused to listen, they did not remember what God had done for them, rebelled, made an idol, committed terrible blasphemies, threw away your law, killed the prophets, turned to sin, were obstinate, turned their backs on God, refused to listen and on and on. 

God gets a bad rep in the Old Testament for being a "God of Wrath." And I see where people get that, but it's just because we identify more with the Israelites (who were deserving of wrath) than we do with God, whose constant expressions of mercy and love are so far beyond our ability to comprehend.