More Than Meets the Eye

Over and over, in the lives of those He met, Jesus went beneath the surface to bring them into a relationship with Himself. Here's a story that comes to mind.

Mark 2:1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

What? The guy needs to walk first…then maybe we can talk about his sins… He didn’t come for that! He came for healing. But Jesus knew there was more to it that what meets the eye. And then something else happens.

Mark 2:6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Again, there is more than meets the eye…even with the teachers of the law.

Mark 2:8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . .” He said to the paralytic, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Jesus understood fully the situation and the needs. He didn’t just look at a paralyzed man hanging there. He looked and saw someone so weighed down with guilt that he couldn’t move in the spiritual realm either. So entangled in their own guilt and shame that they were spiritually paralyzed. Ever known anyone like that? So Jesus goes for the real need first. And the man instantly knew that Jesus understood him and it freed and bolstered his faith, which would take him through the first test of faith. “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”

To help kids today, we have to take the time to enter their world; To understand the story underneath the external. To hear the cry of their hearts and respond to that first by helping get them to Jesus where their souls can be set free and true healing can begin. Unless we recognize that EVERY kid has a story beneath the surface and seek to understand that story, we will never truly be effective with them.  They are continuously talking...are we listening?

Walking Willfully into God's Workshop

Is it possible that the "professionalization" of ministry has somehow robbed us of a simple, deepening trust in God?  Have we gotten so good at our research, our analysis and our application of data, that we somehow have missed actually seeing God?

I marvel at the incredible intelligence God has bestowed on some of my colleagues and in looking at their incredible ministries, sometimes I also feel exceptionally unqualified for my own.  Sometimes I can't even understand the dialog that runs between them, so I stay out of the discussion.  And it is then that I long to be more educated, more articulate, more able to add something to the dialog.  But for what purpose?  If I am to be honest, it is usually for the purpose of making me somehow look better.  To make me look more intelligent. To perhaps be more respected.  And at this juncture, God usually crashes into my little daydream to remind me that He is all I need.

The conversation typically goes something like this:
God: What are you thinking about?
Me: Like You don't know?
G: Oh, I do know...but I think you need to really hear what you are saying.  So...what are you thinking about?
M: I'm thinking about how inadequate I am to the task You called me to do.
G: Who said you were supposed to be adequate?
M: Well, it would be nice to know that I can handle what you send my way...so perhaps I should go get my doctorate or something.
G: Would that make you adequate to the task I've called you to?
M: Umm...I would at least appear smarter and perhaps people would respect what I say a little more.
G: So this is really more about you than about what I called  you to do?
M: Well...I suppose, perhaps...ummm...maybe... Ok...Yes.  Since you put it like that.

G: Do you think I AM adequate to the task that I have prepared for you?
M: Sure YOU are!  But this is me we are talking about!
G: What was the promise I made right before I left?
M: That You will be with me always?
G: Right!  So this is US we are talking about.  Not just you.  US...you and ME together.  And really, if I so chose, I could actually do it all Myself, but I wanted to share a little with you.  Like a Father in a workshop teaching His child how to make things, I have invited YOU into my MY workshop, and I will provide everything you need.
M: But what about more education?
G: That may be the path that I have chosen for others to go down...but YOUR path is here in my workshop.  Learn of ME.  Learn of MY WAYS.   Don't lose sight of me in the midst of your dreams of grandeur.  That is not the path I have chosen for you.  I have fully equipped you for the path that you must walk.  I have promised to go with you...and as always, I AM!
M: And that is enough for me God.

And so I come back to realizing that God has called each of us render service where HE has placed us, using the tools that He has given each of us.  I have come to realize that He has not called me to be successful.   Only faithful.  And if I am faithful to that calling, that will be enough.

God help me to be faithful and to remember that You called me to serve right where I am with the tools that You have given me...and that YOU are enough.

Not all the wisdom and skill of man can produce life in the smallest object in nature. It is only through the life which God Himself has imparted, that either plant or animal can live. So it is only through the life from God that spiritual life is begotten in the hearts of men. Unless a man is "born from above," he cannot become a partaker of the life which Christ came to give. John 3:3, Steps to Christ page 68