Esther 7-10, 1 Timothy 1-6, 2 Timothy 1-4, and Job 1-12

Minus the happily ever after of Ester- this week’s passages were less than feel good for me. What about you?

In 1 & 2 Timothy- we again see letters from Paul, giving life advice on how to believe, think, and act as Christians. In someways- it’s nice to have a “rule book”- do this, don’t do that, etc. How many times in my life have I prayed to God asking for basically just that- in fact one of the very reasons this blog was even started, “DEAR GOD SHOW ME YOUR WHERE FOR MY LIFE! What is it I’m doing? Lead, guide, direct me!!” But for some reason, these letters in the Timothys erked me a little. I’m not sure I’m even “allowed” to say that; I certainly don’t want to be blasphemous. BUT then again- I’m not a “Paul-ian” I’m a Christian. My takeaways here are all really just questions, no answers; just leaves me curious, wanting more (maybe even the intro to a future Bible study??).

Are these really the rules for women? Am I really just supposed to keep quiet in church, take care of my family, not permitted to teach, not permitted to have authority over a man, not be a deacon because deacons must be men??!! So I am not allowed to work period? Or I’m just not allowed to have men subordinates?? I’m really left baffled here and there’s too much to unpack in one sitting so for now, let’s stay at the 10,000 foot level and keep going- but don’t worry, I fully plan to revisit this and really explore the topic in-depth, not from an argumentative standpoint but from a genuine curiosity standpoint because I really don’t have the answer and would like to know more.

So then let’s fast forward to the last part of this week’s passage- the first part of Job. Again, I’m baffled and left with so many questions- when was this written? Who wrote it? How does the writer know about the conversations between God and the Angels? Why was Satan included in this conversation?? So let’s pause, because I have to remind myself- I’m not meant to know or understand everything; that’s not my place. It is merely my place to study God’s word and have faith in His love for me, wholeheartedly relying on Him and attempting to follow Him. So I guess that’s my takeaway here- I don’t understand what’s happening to Job or why, but that’s ok, because God does.

What are you seeing here? New information you haven’t picked up on before? New insights??