On Sunday, Daniel led us through the book of Obadiah. And reminded us that it all comes down to the ways we treat our neighbors.

The nation of Edom, which comes from Jacob’s brother Esau, is living high and mighty after watching Israel’s defeat by the Babylonians. This long-standing brotherly feud is ugly in so many ways. Brother against brother when they were Jacob and Esau has led to nation against nation when they are Israel and Edom.

And God is tired of it.

He sends Obadiah to put Edom in its place: You shall be made small. You shall be cut off. You shall be destroyed. And for what? For violence against your brother Jacob (v. 10).

In this tiny little book (only 21 verses) from the Old Testament, we see an outdated, yet glaringly accurate, representation of my Facebook feed. We see brother set against brother. Someone loses and someone gloats, and holds it over them. Someone is excluded and someone cries out about the unfairness. Someone attempts to escape and someone cuts them off. It is a minefield of pride and persecution and heartache. We absorb only the very best parts of everyone’s highly edited days and wallow in our own despair.

It’s unpleasant, to say the least.

But thankfully the story doesn’t end with Obadiah 16. Just like in the story of the Good Samaritan, there is redemption for the defeated. Israel will triumph. There will be deliverance. A Good Samaritan will stop and treat his enemy, but his neighbor, as a friend. A Savior will be risen up from the grave and grant new life.

So where do we sit, right now? We are in that already/not yet period that Pastor Justin tells us about. We have already been called by this Savior. We have been granted new life in Christ. Yet, here we sit, in a broken world. We are surrounded by and consumed by pride and self-defeat. We are accepted, forgiven, and redeemed. But we stumble, we flounder, we feel unloved. We are already. We are not yet. Here we are, stuck in the middle.

We probably have more in common than we think with both the Good Samaritan AND Edom. Because we are caught in the middle of already and not yet.

~ Kaytee Cobb