I was getting ready in our bathroom and Scott was shaving his head next to me. It's summertime. The Fish boys shave their heads in the summer. It's free and it's hot. He looked up at one point and asked what I thought of his new haircut. He had shaved a fohawk. We laughed and talked about how a hair cut like that would be received in his workplace.
My husband primarily works for government contracts where dress pants and button-up shirts are required. Suit and tie makes an appearance when he visits the east coast. He likes when he gets to work from home because the attire is a little less daunting. One can only hope the uniform of athletic shorts and t-shirts will one day make it out of the home office and into the work world.
As we were laughing about his stylish do, we began talking about workplace stereotypes. If he heads to one office, he has to dress one way. When he heads to work on another contract, he busts out the sport coat. Funny how you are deemed less professional or less capable to do your job based on your attire. I get that we need to make ourselves presentable, but I also believe that the clothes you wear do not make you more qualified.
Talking about workplace stereotypes with Scott got me to thinking of the stereotypes I hold in my own life. I have visions and views for all kinds of people. Never in a million years would I consider myself prejudice or allow those stereotypes to get in the way of the kindness I show to others or keep me from starting relationship with others. However, because of the situation we are in in the state of our country and our world, this tiny little innocent banter between husband and wife got me reflecting a little deeper.
"Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. So the LORD God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant. But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it withered. When the sun came up God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, “Death is better to me than life.” Jonah 4:5-8
Most of us have heard the story of Jonah but we usually stop once the big fish spits him out in Nineveh. The story doesn't stop there though. There is so much more to Jonah. Jonah finally went to Nineveh to follow through on the plans the Lord had for him. After speaking to the city, Jonah decided to rest under a tree. He wanted to watch as God took care of that evil city. But, God didn't follow through the way Jonah thought He should. Instead, God had compassion on the people of Nineveh because they turned from their evil and destructive ways (verse 10). This angered Jonah to no end. So, God decided to work on Jonah once again removing his comfortable shade and bringing in even more heat.
Isn't that like God? Sometimes He allows chaos and suffering to persist until we rid ourselves from ourselves. Maybe, just maybe, this chaos and suffering in our world is a purging of ourselves. I think we are very much like Jonah. We run from God when He firsts calls us to something we are uncomfortable doing. Then, when He rocks our world a little bit, we decide to follow through because running hurts too much. After we live out what God had intended, we puff out our chests and wait to see the reward of our labor. But, in all that chest-puffing, we get a little bloated and think we know better than God. So, He has to work on us once again until we finally get to the end zone.
Our world is in chaos. Things are coming to the surface that are terrifying. We often ask ourselves, "How on earth did we get here?" When, in reality, we've been here all along we just stuffed the ugly down deep enough that we could sit under the shade for awhile. And then God sent a worm and our comforts were stolen from us.
Chaos and suffering doesn't mean God has lost. It, to me, means quite the opposite. While I do not like turning on the news these days, these issues we are facing our beneficial. They help us to see the things that need purging from our lives, from our government, from our world. We see chaos. God sees opportunity.
A simple, funny, little conversation between my husband and I would have been just that: a little conversation, had our world not been slapped in the face with the atrocities others face daily. Realizing I have stereotypes (we all do) made me do some deeper exploration to determine how these stereotypes impacted the way I treat others. I may not treat people differently, but my thoughts may be impure.
We needed a good purge. We needed God to send the worm to eat the leaves of the tree that was providing us with shade and comfort. We need the chaos because we need God. We need to know that we have a need for Him and oftentimes, we ignore that need when we are resting comfortably in the shade.
The problems we are facing could be our provision from God. We just need to allow Him back in.
Love & Blessings,
Meg
My husband primarily works for government contracts where dress pants and button-up shirts are required. Suit and tie makes an appearance when he visits the east coast. He likes when he gets to work from home because the attire is a little less daunting. One can only hope the uniform of athletic shorts and t-shirts will one day make it out of the home office and into the work world.
As we were laughing about his stylish do, we began talking about workplace stereotypes. If he heads to one office, he has to dress one way. When he heads to work on another contract, he busts out the sport coat. Funny how you are deemed less professional or less capable to do your job based on your attire. I get that we need to make ourselves presentable, but I also believe that the clothes you wear do not make you more qualified.
Talking about workplace stereotypes with Scott got me to thinking of the stereotypes I hold in my own life. I have visions and views for all kinds of people. Never in a million years would I consider myself prejudice or allow those stereotypes to get in the way of the kindness I show to others or keep me from starting relationship with others. However, because of the situation we are in in the state of our country and our world, this tiny little innocent banter between husband and wife got me reflecting a little deeper.
"Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. So the LORD God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant. But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it withered. When the sun came up God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, “Death is better to me than life.” Jonah 4:5-8
Most of us have heard the story of Jonah but we usually stop once the big fish spits him out in Nineveh. The story doesn't stop there though. There is so much more to Jonah. Jonah finally went to Nineveh to follow through on the plans the Lord had for him. After speaking to the city, Jonah decided to rest under a tree. He wanted to watch as God took care of that evil city. But, God didn't follow through the way Jonah thought He should. Instead, God had compassion on the people of Nineveh because they turned from their evil and destructive ways (verse 10). This angered Jonah to no end. So, God decided to work on Jonah once again removing his comfortable shade and bringing in even more heat.
Isn't that like God? Sometimes He allows chaos and suffering to persist until we rid ourselves from ourselves. Maybe, just maybe, this chaos and suffering in our world is a purging of ourselves. I think we are very much like Jonah. We run from God when He firsts calls us to something we are uncomfortable doing. Then, when He rocks our world a little bit, we decide to follow through because running hurts too much. After we live out what God had intended, we puff out our chests and wait to see the reward of our labor. But, in all that chest-puffing, we get a little bloated and think we know better than God. So, He has to work on us once again until we finally get to the end zone.
Our world is in chaos. Things are coming to the surface that are terrifying. We often ask ourselves, "How on earth did we get here?" When, in reality, we've been here all along we just stuffed the ugly down deep enough that we could sit under the shade for awhile. And then God sent a worm and our comforts were stolen from us.
Chaos and suffering doesn't mean God has lost. It, to me, means quite the opposite. While I do not like turning on the news these days, these issues we are facing our beneficial. They help us to see the things that need purging from our lives, from our government, from our world. We see chaos. God sees opportunity.
A simple, funny, little conversation between my husband and I would have been just that: a little conversation, had our world not been slapped in the face with the atrocities others face daily. Realizing I have stereotypes (we all do) made me do some deeper exploration to determine how these stereotypes impacted the way I treat others. I may not treat people differently, but my thoughts may be impure.
We needed a good purge. We needed God to send the worm to eat the leaves of the tree that was providing us with shade and comfort. We need the chaos because we need God. We need to know that we have a need for Him and oftentimes, we ignore that need when we are resting comfortably in the shade.
The problems we are facing could be our provision from God. We just need to allow Him back in.
Love & Blessings,
Meg
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