Obadiah

That moment in church when the pastor says, "Open your bibles with me to Obadiah" and your brain starts to check out (Wanda, if you are reading this, don't tell Bruce!  It gets better, I promise!).

Not a Sunday goes by where my thoughts don't drift during the sermon.  Sometimes it's a struggle for me to keep my head in the game at church.  Sometimes I can't get past the opening sentence of the sermon.  Sometimes I can't find the book of the Bible the pastor is talking about.  Sometimes I get stuck on something the pastor says that isn't the main focal point of his sermon.

The last one definitely happened to me on Sunday.

We had a guest pastor at Weaverland.  And the sermon started in Obadiah.  I knew 0 things about this particular book.  It talks about the descendants of Jacob and Esau.  It's not a really happy book.  It has phrases like:  "Rise, and let us go against her for battle"  and "Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever"  and "The house of Jacob will be a fire and the house of Esau will be stubble, and they will set it on fire and consume it.  There will be no survivors from the house of Esau.  The Lord has spoken"  

Not.  Happy.

So the something I got stuck on that wasn't a main focal point?  It was a phrase that most people didn't even really hear.

The pastor took us back to Genesis to give us the back story of Jacob and Esau.  Dude, you want to talk about sibling rivalry?  I'll take my kids over these two any day of the week.

But back to what I got stuck on.  Genesis 25:22 "The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, "Why is this happening to me?"  So she went to inquire of the Lord."

Did you hear what I heard?  "So she went..."

This phrase struck me right between the eyes.  Rebekah had to go somewhere to inquire of the Lord.  My footnote says "perhaps to a nearby place of worship".

Here's this dear lady, pregnant with twins who are already fighting with each other while in utero (ugh!) and she wants to know why.  Who better to ask than God?  But she doesn't just stay sitting with her swollen feet and ankles propped up.  Nope.  She hauls her expanding self up and goes somewhere to inquire of the Lord.

Why?  

Does she need to make a sacrifice first?  Does she need somebody else to inquire for her?  Are there rules about where you can pray?

I don't know the answers to any of these questions.  If you do, please let me know.

All I know is that the scriptures say she "went to inquire of the Lord".  

And I'm left to ponder, if I couldn't pray right where I am, would I make the effort to get to a place where I could pray?  

And I'm left to rejoice, thank you, Jesus, that because of your sacrifice I can meet you anywhere.  

And I'm left feeling ashamed for the many times I don't bother to pray even though I have an invitation to come freely before the Throne of Grace.

The pastor wrapped up his sermon by saying he believes the book of Obadiah is an illustration of salvation.  We all deserve the fate of the Edomites.  Total destruction and death.  But when we come before the throne of grace and ask for Jesus' mercy he fights for us, just like he did for Israel.

And we can come before His throne wherever we are.  In the car.  In front of the computer.  In the shower.  While making picaken.  

Jesus doesn't care where, he just cares that we come.