Contemplative Bible Reading

Joshua 5:9 (New Living Translation)

9 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the shame of your slavery in Egypt.” So that place has been called Gilgal to this day.

shame: a negative evaluation of the entire self—believing that you are fundamentally flawed, unlovable, or inadequate as a person.

Shame is a debilitating feeling. The person carrying shame can barely move. They can’t “get out of bed” or do the simplest, smallest thing.

The people of God carried shame of being slaves in Egypt. A rational examination of their condition in Egypt showed they could have done something else. They could have walked away. They could have left Egypt. They didn’t. Their circumstances all piled up on their shoulders and they were stuck. They were stuck in shame.

God rolled away the shame. God removed the shame.

Of course God does the same today. People are loaded with troubles and mistakes and circumstances and they can’t move away and get out of bed and do anything worthwhile. Shame is a load. What to do? Where to turn? Surely, there must be an answer.

God remains the answer. We know this. Somehow we can’t accept God. What is wrong with us? What is wrong with me? Please God, help me in my unbelief.