Monday: And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Mark 8:36 (NLT) There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her. Luke 10:42 (NLT) If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up. Daniel 3:17-18 (NLT) Reflection: It is difficult to cultivate peace if we don’t understand what it is. For many, peace seems like the absence of conflict or difficulty, but to Jesus peace went much deeper than that. Jesus had peace and displayed peace. He didn’t lose His peace when He felt troubled. And Jesus did feel troubled. He had empathy for those who mourned, and cried at the tomb of Lazarus, even knowing that He would raise him from the dead. Jesus wasn’t afraid of mourning. It didn’t threaten His peace. Profound loss, sadness and disappointment are all part of the human condition. Jesus, although He was God, didn’t spare Himself from the human condition. He jumped right into our mess. He was born in a stable and died a criminal’s death. In between the two Jesus let Himself depend on others, which goes hand in hand with being disappointed. On the night that Jesus was betrayed He felt deeply troubled that His three closest friends didn’t even stay awake while He contemplated carrying the sins of the world on His shoulders. Jesus could always say “It is well with my soul.” Despite His frustrations and His tears, Jesus knew deep in His soul what it means to be anchored in God. He knew heaven. He knew wholeness. He knew the experience of being one with God. And no one could take that away from Him. It was real and eternal - more permanent than any tear, more compelling than human feelings of frustration, more enduring than anything He suffered. He was so troubled by the upcoming cross that blood mingled with His sweat. Despite this feeling of excruciating trauma, He moved forward, knowing that His suffering would end in victory. He was willing to bear great pain because He had great love. He knew that pain and sin and death itself were no match for the One who loved Him, no match for the love He carried inside of Him. Jesus had the peace of knowing and experiencing God. It is the most important thing and it can never be taken from us. Being anchored in God is more valuable than anything we will ever accomplish it. Great feats of achievement can never give us the peace that lies in leaning on God’s love. It is available to us in times of quit and it is available to us in times of war. It accompanies our great victories and it sits on the floor with us in our deepest sorrow. It is bigger and more real than anything we will ever feel. How can we remind ourselves of God’s love and power even when life disappoints us? Prayer: Father, I don’t always understand why things happen the way they do. I read all the promises in the Bible about Your protection and sometimes I have a hard time seeing it in my life and the lives of those I love. Please teach me to see Your hand altering events all around me as I go through this day with You. In Jesus’ Name, amen.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 21:02:54 +0000
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