I plowed through Leviticus 13 & 14 this morning. And I mean plowed through 'em. These are not the most wonderfully, inspiring chapters of the Bible.
Or at least that's what I thought.
After I closed my Bible, I looked heavenward and said, "HUH? I don't get it, Lord!! I don't get all the regulations about skin diseases and mildew and the tons of other things listed in Leviticus!!!! I. JUST. DON'T. GET. IT!!"
Take for instance Leviticus 14:34 where God says to Moses that He will "put a spreading mildew in a house in that land" and then goes on to give instructions on what to do about mildew.
I'm truly stumped. I don't get it at all. Why put the mildew there in the first place if the people were going to have to go through all this ritual to get rid of it?! Same with the infectious skin diseases and the other situations listed in Leviticus.
Why did God give so many laws?
Well, if you're waiting for some major revelation here...sorry to disappoint you. I am not the person to answer that question. I'm as confused as you. If you're confused. If you're not, then kudos to you! Maybe you can give me a little help understanding it all.
But as I was crying out to God with my "WHY LORD?!" questions this morning, something truly wonderful occurred to me!
I don't have to UNDERSTAND God and His ways to be OBEDIENT!!!
Wow!! Did you get that?
We don't have to UNDERSTAND God to be OBEDIENT!
That is truly freeing when you think about it! We don't--and won't!--always understand the why's of God's ways. In Isaiah 55:8 He says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, either are my ways your ways." It doesn't get any clearer than that, folks! God never intended for us to understand everything!
And you know what? Understanding it all isn't the important part anyway! It's the obedience we offer to Him in spite of our lack of understanding that counts!
As children we didn't always understand the rules and discipline our parents doled out. But understanding wasn't the main issue. Obedience was. And that's the exact same way it is between us and God the Father. He wants our obedience, even if we don't always understand what's going on. Because...
God DOES understand!
And that's what matters!
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