Do you ever find it strange that what is ever on your mind pops up in front of you. Maybe you just dont look. I found these four staring me in the face this week from just googling for answers for myself. Strange how God is always there. Sometimes you just have to look beyond the obvious..... Standing at the back of the sanctuary, Josh listened with sadness as a lady of the church expressed her frustration at the song and instrument choice for the morning. He calmly reminded her that the staff was doing its best to provide a variety of music. He explained that they were attempting to give people of all backgrounds an opportunity to connect with God in a format they understood. She responded, “Well if that’s the kind of music they like, they can go somewhere else!” His heart sank. It’s sad to see Christians who ought to be mature in their faith express attitudes and action to the contrary. How is it after so many years of experiencing God’s grace for themselves they fail to offer it to others? As a man of 85 years, Caleb prepared to enter the Promised Land. He was ready to finish the race as he had started it. May we all extend God’s grace in ever-increasing quantities. Taking a child to receive a vaccination is a painful experience for everyone involved. What a toddler cannot understand, but what doctors and parents do, is that the pain experienced on that day greatly diminishes the possibility of greater pain in the future. Sometimes God calls us to something that makes us uncomfortable or that may even cause us pain. For instance, when He called the disciples to follow Him, it meant trading a life of relative stability and comfort for years of wandering, persecution, and even death. Yet, consider the alternative: what if they’d rejected Jesus’ call that day beside the Sea of Galilee? God tells us to take courage and step into the present/future that He has for us–whether we know exactly what it entails or not. Will we be the child who seeks to avoid temporary pain, ignorant of future peace, or will we be the parent accepting hardship now for the wholeness that awaits? “What do you think I should do?” she asked for what seemed like the 100th time. “I mean, this seems like the perfect fit for me. It’s got everything I’ve been looking for, and I really think I would enjoy it. It’s almost like God’s been holding this job open for me.” I smiled and agreed. “But I just don’t know. I’m not sure I should leave my present job. I like where I work, and the people I work with have become good friends. What do you think?” Again, I smiled and said, “I think you know what to do; you just need to do it.” Often when we sense God leading us in a certain direction, we want to know everything in advance; we want to know with complete certainty that this is what He’s asking. But the truth is, we’ll never know everything we need to know before making that important decision. The essence of faith, though, is not certainty; it’s trust that no matter what happens, God holds us in His gracious providence and care. Has this ever happened to you? You say to your child, “Pick up that trash.” The child responds, “What trash?” “Over there.” “Where?” “There.” “I can’t see it.” “It’s right there.” You know how the story goes. There is an interesting chat between the two on the road to Emmaus and Jesus. They’ve heard the testimony of the women who went to the tomb. In fact, they were amazed by their story. They said they had seen Jesus. Nevertheless to these two, it was only a story they couldn’t believe. The rest of that conversation starts with Jesus calling them foolish. The truth was right in front of them, but they could not see it. How about you? Are you looking right at the truth but cannot see it? Is there some situation in your life in which you lack faith that God can work? Listen to the Spirit, read the Word, look at what God is doing around you. Believe in the resurrected Christ!
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 20:13:01 +0000
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