Traps and Tricks

First off, I'd like to apologize for not writing these past two weeks. I was very under the weather and felt no inspiration. Isn't that how it is when you're sick? Anywho, I'm writing today...


Let me take you to a scene of a cute cartoon. You have a road runner and a coyote, who is always after the road runner. The long-legged bird is very fast, so the coyote must set traps for his 'breakfast." The coyote then sets a noose on the ground to catch the bird's foot. When he hears the notorious "beep, beep," he pulls the noose, but the road runner dodged the rope, and the force of the coyote's pull causes him to fall backward off the cliff. His noose snatches on a heavy rock, but, as his luck would have it, the rope is too long, and he lands hard against the desert ground. As he rises, he tugs the rope still attached to the rock, which lands on his head. Thus ends the coyote's attempt to catch the road runner.
This scene is similar to several fun shows such as Tom and Jerry or Bugs Bunny when Yosemite Sam tries to hunt the rabbit down. Additionally, on the adult side, there are movies like How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, where the main characters (both male and female) are fooling each other only to be bit in the butt by their dirty tricks.
In the end, the traps that sit in wait fail and backfire. This is, excitingly, a Biblical concept. As you know, the Bible book we ladies are studying is Esther, in which Haman justly hangs on the gallows he had built for his nemesis, Mordecai. But unlike the coyote, there is no recovery. No redo.
Now if Haman had just read Psalms and Proverbs, maybe he'd have known better. Proverbs 26:27 says, "If you set a trap for others, you will get caught in it yourself. If you roll a boulder down on others, it will crush you instead." I wonder if the writers for Looney Toons read this before creating a couple of their scenes. Likewise, Psalms 7:15-16 says, "They dig a deep pit to trap others, then fall into it themselves. The trouble they make for others backfires on them. The violence they plan falls on their own heads."
This blog has no life application, unless, of course, you are planning an evil scheme. If not, take peace in knowing that tricksters always lose in the end.  =)

Small packages

The other week when the 3-year-olds were heading upstairs for nap time, a mother commented to her older girl, "They're so little." At the time, I was prodding along a stubborn child who didn't want to go upstairs. I looked at the woman and replied, "Yes, but powerful things come in tiny packages. This one is a walking time bomb."
When you look at creation, you see many things that reflect this truth. Paper cuts hurt worse than getting stabbed at times. Mice are little creatures, but they can bring the deadliest of diseases to a town or village. One small mistake in a building can send it crashing down.
Throughout the whole Old Testament you see this pattern. God uses the weaker one. Technically, Isaac was the second born to Abraham, not the first. He was lesser, but he was the one through which God blessed the nations. Jacob was the younger of the two, but he received the blessing. God designed this from the beginning. Joseph, a younger son, became a powerful ruler. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 says, "But [Jesus] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me." How can Jesus have room when we use up all the space? All the strength we have should come from the Lord.
Jesus came to this world as a weak little baby. He lived a simple life and died a painful, human death. He chose to be weak. He was humble. He is the rock that broke the strong metals in Nebuchadnezzar's dream. Small but mighty.
Jesus came to show the mighty and wise how small and foolish they really are. Part of being a great vessel for God is to be humble and weak. For only then can he make us strong and useful.