Murky

Re:Verse passage – 2 Samuel 18:6-11 (day four)

If there was ever a perfect snapshot of the human condition, it’s this one. This story doesn’t have a clear hero or villain, but rather a host of imperfect people working out the results of their sin in a high-stakes arena. David is a poor example of a parent and lets his personal affairs nearly destroy the nation of Israel, but he loves his son regardless of his actions. Many of us have had the experience of caring for someone to a fault. Absolam is vain and conspiratorial against his own father, but he is fueled by righteous anger over things in his past. Trauma can put a dark lens over our worldview. Joab is disloyal to the king and seems to have a thirst for revenge, but he makes a decision to end a war that could have taken more Israelite lives. We’ve all experienced the burden of a conflict of values.

Life is a like this much of the time – right and wrong are made blurry by sin and trying to find the path forward is like trying to see through mud. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.” The path forward looks murky now, but have hope. There is no amount of sinful mud that will stop our God from making all things new.