Have you ever read Chronicles? Not the Chronicles of Narnia, the Biblical books of I and II Chronicles. If you did Year of the Bible with us a few years back, you would have. If you have ever tried to read straight through the Bible you probably didn't get to Chronicles, or it may have been the book that frustrated and slowed you down if it didn't stop you outright.

 Chronicles starts with nine chapters of almost solid lists of unpronounceable names, the genealogies of important people in Israel 's history. Chronicles is one of those books that keeps people from being liturgists because they are afraid I might give them one of those lists. The Life Transformation Group of which I am a part is trying to read Chronicles. We have a rule, everyone has to finish the reading by the next meeting, or everyone reads it over again. We have been reading Chronicles for a while now.

 It is really a wonderful book, and I will continue to refer to it as one book rather than two since it is a whole, it just wouldn't fit on a single scroll. It is like the Cliff's Notes of Israel 's history with quick summaries of stories we find in Kings and Samuel. It was written after the exile as the people were trying to reclaim what it meant to be God's people. They had been off in captivity learning how serious God was about his unique claim on his people, that “thou shalt have no other gods” stuff. So when you get down to it, Chronicles is a summary of where Israel went wrong and why God had to discipline them. That is pretty unique for an historical account considering that all around them in Egypt and Assyria they wrote their history not for accuracy but to glorify the king.

 So when I read Chronicles I don't read about godlike leaders who celebrate their wisdom and power, I read about people pretty much like me. I read about sinners, people who made some bad mistakes, some who loved God and some who ignored God. In Chronicles I find the human experience presented through the filter of wisdom gained through years in captivity. I find people who are trying to understand their history and their God, and God trying to reach out to his people. In Chronicles I find hope.

 So there is hope in the Bible. That's hardly news. There are books that are more accessible and from which it is easier to find hope and wisdom. But Chronicles is like life. Wisdom is not always as near as we would like, or as comforting as we might hope. And hope sometimes seems far away. In life sometimes we have to sort through the garbage, wait a while, sit on the edge of our seat, wonder, hope, get frustrated, wait some more and occasionally feel like giving up. But we don't and find that God has been with us all along. And God is in every word of Chronicles. Like eating crawfish, perhaps it is a lot of work for the meat that you get, and you probably wouldn't want it every day, but the reward is rich. So crack open that Bible and get to living, and discover for yourself God somewhere you didn't expect to find him.