Some individuals can rattle off sports activities stats. Some know obscure particulars about their favourite band. Some comply with the ups and downs of the inventory market. Me? I might speak for hours in regards to the nuances of punctuation.
I understand this explicit obsession makes me a first-class nerd, however give it some thought: there’s the dramatic pause of ellipses, the snarky apart of parentheses, the gradual yield of a comma, the abrupt shift signaled by an em sprint, and the fun of the exclamation mark. What can I say? There’s simply a lot emotion that may be packed into these little punctuations!
I come by my love of punctuation truthfully. My mother ornaments each greeting card with further handwritten exclamation marks, and her e-mail signature accommodates seven of them. They make me smile each time. So that you’ll think about this grammar geek’s dismay after I found that the traditional Greek and Hebrew languages didn’t have punctuation. Apparently sentence punctuation wasn’t invented till a number of centuries after Christ. What?!
How Historic Writers Obtained Their Readers’ Consideration
Writer Sharon Garlough Brown explains that though the writers of Scripture didn’t have commas or exclamation marks at their disposal, they did have entry to different instruments to get their readers’ consideration. Most notably, they used the phrase for behold, which suggests “to maintain or to carry.” It comes from the Greek phrase “to see.” This interjection jumps off the web page, as sure as punctuation — with all of the exclamatory energy of an exclamation mark, with all of the pause-worthy impact of a comma. It was meant to drive its readers to decelerate, to carry this reality of their hearts, to actually see.
The phrase behold is used greater than a thousand occasions within the English Commonplace Model, which makes me suppose there should be lots God needs us to concentrate to.
Behold, I’m with you and can maintain you wherever you go (Genesis 28:15).
Behold, God is my helper (Psalm 54:4).
Behold, God is my salvation (Isaiah 12:2).
Behold, I’m doing a brand new factor (Isaiah 43:19).
Behold, the dominion of God is within the midst you (Luke 17:21).
Behold, the brand new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Behold, I stand on the door and knock (Revelation 3:20).
If behold means “to carry,” then I ponder: Is the other to let go? Or “to overlook”?
When God Exhibits Up in Methods You Don’t Anticipate
I spent all of my twenties and a part of my thirties searching for God to indicate up in a single explicit means. For so long as I can keep in mind, it was my dream to be a spouse and a mother. However as I attended marriage ceremony after marriage ceremony for my mates and my siblings, nothing appeared to be progressing for me within the relationship division. I prayed, I fasted, I went on cringe-worthy blind dates. I reminded God about His promise to give us the wishes of our hearts and to put the lonely in households. However it appeared just like the outpourings of my coronary heart have been met with silence.
I believed that God might intervene in my love life — I actually did. I used to be more-than-ready to behold what he would do — to place an exclamation mark on that reply to prayer, if you’ll. As an alternative, I discovered myself floundering, sort of like these three dots you discover when a sentence trails off. I used to be caught in a cycle of ready, and I wasn’t certain if a solution would ever come.
What I didn’t understand was that throughout me, God was giving me so many wonders to behold; it’s simply that they weren’t those I used to be anticipating. He gave me mates — the sort I might name for any motive, or for no motive in any respect. He gave me a church — an imperfect neighborhood, however a neighborhood the place I might develop stronger and deeper in my religion. He gave me youngsters — not my very own, however youngsters I may very well be auntie and mentor to. He gave me love — not within the type of a husband, however love by the kindness and companionship of my individuals.
He gave me solutions to my prayers — not the reply I used to be searching for, however an excellent higher one: the response of His personal presence.
How typically do I miss what God is doing and saying to me as a result of my coronary heart is simply too busy, too distracted? I’m so caught up in searching for one explicit blessing that I miss the attractive issues He’s doing throughout me, and inside me. I’m so busy lamenting His “no” or “wait” that I miss all of the exceptional “yeses” round me.
I wish to be a greater beholder. I wish to concentrate, not solely to His presents, but in addition to His character, His presence, and the way He’s molding me throughout this season.
Three Methods God Invitations Us to Behold
So what does it appear like, on a sensible stage, to behold? Particularly on this world that values velocity and effectivity and multitasking? If we’re not intentional about it, we’ll undergo life skimming the floor. God, it appears, will get that we’re not naturally good beholders. However He invitations us to decelerate and pay attention to what He’s doing in not less than three particular methods:
1. God invitations us to pay attention. He beckons us to take heed to Him. We’re given these directions in Deuteronomy 13:4 (NASB): “Maintain His commandments, take heed to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.” Once we pause to learn God’s Phrase and quiet the buzzing in our minds, we are able to hear what God is saying to us. Then we are able to tune in to what actually issues.
2. God invitations us to relaxation. The idea of Sabbath, six days of labor adopted by in the future of relaxation, isn’t meant to be a legalistic ritual; it’s a life-giving follow that helps us decelerate our frenetic tempo and recognize the presents throughout us. The purpose isn’t the day itself; the purpose is to assist us reset our focus every week on what’s most vital.
Ezekiel 20:20 says, “And maintain my Sabbaths holy that they could be an indication between me and also you, that you could be know that I’m the Lord your God.” Possibly for you, Sabbath will contain turning off your cellphone for a day or not driving your automobile or discovering an exercise that refreshes your soul. No matter relaxation appears to be like like for you, you’ll want to carve out area in your soul to replicate on the one who made you.
3. God invitations us to see the world by eyes of gratitude. “Give thanks in all circumstances; for that is the desire of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Observe that we don’t need to be grateful for all circumstances, however we are able to discover one thing to be grateful for in all circumstances. Possibly you are able to do that by beginning a day by day log of issues to be grateful for, or by going for a stroll and taking psychological stock of your presents, large and small.
Don’t Miss It!
Is there one thing you’re so centered on on this season that you simply’re lacking what God is doing in your life proper now, even immediately? Wherever you end up in the meanwhile, I encourage you to behold. Don’t miss the enjoyment and the love throughout you when you’re searching for that one factor.
Take time to pause. To exclaim. To behold.
(Or perhaps I ought to make that, “To behold!”)
Copyright Stephanie Rische 2016. All rights reserved.
