Enduring
Another Day Along the Way
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Another day,
Five thousand men, plus women and children. That's how many they fed with five loaves of bread and two fish. How do you follow that miracle? How could Jesus match that?
Once again, Jesus shocked observers with His follow-up maneuver. No press conference. No announcement of date and time and location of His next major miracle.
In what appears to be the height of missed opportunity, Jesus left. He just left. He sent away the crowd and made the disciples take a boat out on the lake. He went into the hills to pray.
What a drastic change of pace. From crowds and miracles to solitude and silence.
Then, another quick shift. The silence did not last long. Howling wind and crashing waves pierced the stillness of Christ's time alone. The disciples, having sailed about four miles, found themselves in the middle of a lake struggling against a fierce storm. They faced it without the Miracle Maker in sight.
Though it appears Jesus wanted them to learn how to live without Him, let's not rush ahead too quickly. Jesus wanted His followers trusting Him. No matter the surroundings, the sounds, the storms. Isaiah asked this many years before:
"Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant, who walks in darkness and has no light, yet trusts in the name of the Lord and relies upon His God?"
We prefer sudden maturation. An absence of conflict would be nice. Triumph often overlooks what toiling teaches us. In the crucible of darkness we learn certain hidden truths. Too often we look for an experience of spiritual sensationalism to set us free from our immaturity. If it doesn't happen, we blame spouses or churches, and quit either or both. Church-hopping usually won't increase our character development or calm a storm.
Enduring pains of life teaches us, particularly if we endure with eyes open for the Invisible One.
(Chris Maxwell, Beggars Can Be Chosen)
Along the way,
Chris Maxwell
Prayer Surrendered: RELEASE your worries by praying, "God, my courage has wavered. Bring me back on the water with Jesus."
(Chris Maxwell, Beggars Can Be Chosen)
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Another day,
Five thousand men, plus women and children. That's how many they fed with five loaves of bread and two fish. How do you follow that miracle? How could Jesus match that?
Once again, Jesus shocked observers with His follow-up maneuver. No press conference. No announcement of date and time and location of His next major miracle.
In what appears to be the height of missed opportunity, Jesus left. He just left. He sent away the crowd and made the disciples take a boat out on the lake. He went into the hills to pray.
What a drastic change of pace. From crowds and miracles to solitude and silence.
Then, another quick shift. The silence did not last long. Howling wind and crashing waves pierced the stillness of Christ's time alone. The disciples, having sailed about four miles, found themselves in the middle of a lake struggling against a fierce storm. They faced it without the Miracle Maker in sight.
Though it appears Jesus wanted them to learn how to live without Him, let's not rush ahead too quickly. Jesus wanted His followers trusting Him. No matter the surroundings, the sounds, the storms. Isaiah asked this many years before:
"Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant, who walks in darkness and has no light, yet trusts in the name of the Lord and relies upon His God?"
We prefer sudden maturation. An absence of conflict would be nice. Triumph often overlooks what toiling teaches us. In the crucible of darkness we learn certain hidden truths. Too often we look for an experience of spiritual sensationalism to set us free from our immaturity. If it doesn't happen, we blame spouses or churches, and quit either or both. Church-hopping usually won't increase our character development or calm a storm.
Enduring pains of life teaches us, particularly if we endure with eyes open for the Invisible One.
(Chris Maxwell, Beggars Can Be Chosen)
Along the way,
Chris Maxwell
Prayer Surrendered: RELEASE your worries by praying, "God, my courage has wavered. Bring me back on the water with Jesus."
(Chris Maxwell, Beggars Can Be Chosen)
3 Comments:
Thank you for this message. Sometimes I forget that EVERYTHING is in HIS time, not ours. Thank you for reminding me to be still and listen. To be patient and endure. I know he is there and I am his child. I know what I have been through and done for my children and I know what God has done for me ( his child) I just have to be still and trust that he knows best for me and go with it no matter if it doesn't seem fair to me or happens to be something I think I can do better on my own. I have to follow his plan and endure whatever comes with it.
Thank you again Chris for your words. God is truely working through you and I am grateful.
AOL hates me and I'm trying to tell you about my change to Yahoo
I hope my last one got to you, since when I tried to respond to your last e-mail to my former (but they say current, yet won't let me respond to any now)AOL, it came back telling me you don't exist.
I'm now gspinzia@yahoo.com as I've tried to tell you for 2 month's now. I just hope and pray this gets to you, Pastor and you can stop sending to brother Greg @ GSPinZia@AOL.com.
Blessings and goodnight
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