Hope in the Storms

It has been said that we are at one of four points in life: Either between storms, going into a storm, being in the middle of a storm, or coming out of a storm.

In Matt 8, as well as in Mark 4 and Luke 8,  we find a story of the complete cycle.  Let’s look at Matthew 8 beginning with verse 23.

Matt. 8:23    Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. ²⁴ Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. ²⁵ The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

Matt. 8:26    Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm.

Matt. 8:27    The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!””(Matthew 8:23–27 NLT-SE)

Now let’s read it again in  Mark 4.  

Mark 4:35    As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” ³⁶ So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). ³⁷ But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.

Mark 4:38    Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”

Mark 4:39    When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰ Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

Mark 4:41    The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!”

 

Did you notice the subtle differences in Mark?  Especially in the cry and attitudes of the disciples.  Keep in mind, that the book of Mark is the recorded stories of Peter as written by John Mark.  So you start to see a little bit of the personality and memories of the different disciples and what they were thinking at the time.  We’ll come back to that in moment.

To round out our picture, let’s go to Luke 8.  

Luke 8:22    One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and started out. ²³ As they sailed across, Jesus settled down for a nap. But soon a fierce storm came down on the lake. The boat was filling with water, and they were in real danger.

Luke 8:24    The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”   When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and the raging waves. Suddenly the storm stopped and all was calm.

²⁵ Then he asked them, “Where is your faith?”  The disciples were terrified and amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “When he gives a command, even the wind and waves obey him!”

So now that we have three versions of the story, let’s piece them together and see if we get a little bit more understanding on this passage, and perhaps something that can help us today.

The disciples were peacefully going across the lake.  Jesus is exhausted so He lays down in the back of the boat and goes to sleep.  Suddenly, without any real warning, the storm breaks.  And this is a storm to beat all storms.

They are struggling against the oars, they are bailing like mad and they are panicked out of their minds. Those hardy fishermen had spent their lives on the lake, and had guided their boats through many a storm; but against this storm, their strength and skill are worthless.  They are helpless in the face of this tempest and their hope began to fade as their boat began filling with water.

Absorbed in their efforts to save themselves, they had forgotten that Jesus was on board.  Sound like anyone you know?  Not until they came to the end of their strength and they could see death staring them in the face, did they remember that somewhere in the boat was the One who could help them.  They call out for Him, but they hear no answer.  Just more wind and more waves to the face.  

And now, doubt jumps on top of fear and rides deep into their souls. Had Jesus forgotten them?  Was the One who had healed diseases and opened blinded eyes not able to help His own disciples now?  Have you noticed that we often do the same?  In God’s silence, we often listen to our doubts.

The book Desire of Ages says that a flash of lightning revealed the sleeping Savior and they are incredulous.  How can He sleep through this?  So they woke Him by screaming above the tempest, as recorded in Mark 4:38 (and remember, this is Peter’s version of the story)   “Teacher, Don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”   

Now, I have put this question in the category “stupid questions asked by the disciples”.   Do you think Jesus cared if they drowned?  Of course He did.  Because these men were to be the ones that carried His message to the world.  Of course He cared, but, as we said earlier, in God’s silence, we often listen to our doubts.  

First, forgetting Jesus was in the boat, and then, secondly, not hearing anything from God, they instantly jumped to the conclusion that God didn’t care.  Some things never change do they?  Ever done that? 

So they cry out to Jesus… “Don’t YOU CARE that we’re going to drown???”  Notice…to their reality, this is a foregone conclusion.  They had fully assessed the situation and decided that it was hopeless AND that somehow God didn’t care one whit about them.

There is no indication from either Matthew, Mark or Luke’s account that they wanted Him to do anything more than start rowing or bailing—but I believe they also knew that HE was where their hope lay.  Mathew’s account says that they screamed, “Lord save us: we’re going to drown!”  And I like what the book Desire of Ages says on page 335 “Never did a soul utter that cry unheeded.”  

Let’s go back to our text in Matthew 8.  V. 25 The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm.The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!”(Matthew 8:25–27 NLT-SE)

I love this story for a lot of reasons. First, it reminds us that no matter what storm we are going through, Jesus is still in the boat with us, and He has the power to control everything. Check this out-as fearful as the disciples were in the middle of the storm, they were even more fearful and amazed that the elements that they had feared only moments before, were totally at the beck and call of this man with whom they traveled.

Second, He is a God of surprises. When the disciples shouted out 

“Lord, save us!”, I’m sure the last solution on their minds was that He would simply get up and rebuke the storm and it would cease. They were probably hoping for the supernatural, to be sure...but they were not expecting that. 

Third, Jesus left them with more questions than answers. “Who IS this Man???” We were afraid of the storm before...but THIS Man is GREATER than the storm! That storm was NO MATCH for Him. We thought we were stuck in the clenches of the power of the storm...but the storm was nothing...compared to HIM. 

But as cool as this story is, it occurred to me that this story could either increase our faith or Satan could use it to defeat our faith. What? Let me explain. 

On the one hand, we can see a God who has absolute control of the elements...yet seems to let us down when it comes to OUR current crisis at hand. I had faith...didn’t I? And we focus in on the question Jesus asked them, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” And we squint harder and repeat, “I believe, help my unbelief!!” 

We forget that it was not the disciples faith that caused Jesus to act. It was His goodness and grace, seeking to teach them that He could be trusted in the days and weeks ahead. 

We don’t stop to think that maybe there were other nights on the lake where the storms surrounded them and Jesus DIDN’T calm the storm...but allowed them to go through it. 

Their faith was not the answer to the problem. It was only the answer to the peace that was to be had as they faced the problem. Faith isn’t always about getting the outcome you want. Faith is about trusting that the outcome you receive will better prepare you for the way ahead. Faith is about trusting that one way, or the other, God will get you through the storm and you can be at peace in the middle of it because you trust that God has got you. 

Yes...Jesus CAN bring you the miracle, the healing, the whatever your prayer is...and sometimes He does. To quote singer/songwriter Scott Krippayne, “Sometimes He calms the storm, and other times he calms His child.” 

Sometimes He allows us to face the hard stuff so that we can learn that it is NOT our desired outcomes He is most concerned with, so much as our relationship and our trust in Him for the Journey ahead. 

That storm you are in...will you trust Him with it just now? He’s the God of surprises...so who knows how He will answer...but it will always be a way that can make you stronger and growing closer to Him if you let it. 

I pray peace for your daily journey.

Social Media Grenades vs The Way of Love

Almost a year ago,  I wrote Of Facebook Cannons and Twitter Bombs to examine how too many of us are seeking to right wrongs by weaponizing  our social media feeds to force change with those that have wronged us.  I ended with the line perhaps we need to live like Jesus and lead with love.

In that piece, I looked at the counsel Jesus gave in Matthew 18 on how to deal with those that have wronged us.  Sadly, many Christians totally ignore that counsel, and instead of airing their grievances with the person, they go straight to the Twitter feed or Facebook feed and call out, not just those that have wronged them personally, but those who merely irritate them or hold a view counter to their own.

I've observed on more than one occasion, even pastors, those who I'm certain must have read this passage at some point in their training, totally skipping over Jesus' very words of counsel and blasting other pastors on their social media platforms for the things that are contrary to the view of the one posting.  

In fact, some haven't been personally wronged at all! They merely disagree with what is being said in a sermon or a Twitter post, or in a meeting where something was said, and out come the social media grenades, hoping to blast that person and their opinions into oblivion.  

I just read a new one the other day and it greatly saddened me, and once again gave me cause to ponder.  And as I was pondering all these things the other morning, I decided to re-examine what God is calling us to as we deal with one another, especially fellow Christians. I wrote a Facebook post about what I found and incorporated part of it here.  Look at what Jesus Himself said to His disciples.  

John 15:12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have.

In this day and age of cancel culture, weaponized social media feeds and a polarized society on just about every front, it’s becoming harder and harder to like, much less love, those who are not like me, who think differently or who are sometimes just downright mean. Yet the command remains. 

To stay faithful as a follower of Jesus means we have to love others like Jesus loved. And it is impossible to do that unless we stay connected to Jesus. 

It’s like an electrical circuit. It is in connecting to Jesus and letting the love of Jesus flow into you so that it can flow from you to others that enable you to obey His command.

Perhaps you, like me, have found that loving others is easy to say, but hard to do. And as I seek to do that, I recognize that I can’t do it without the power of Jesus in my life. That’s why it is necessary to stay connected to the Source of Love. To (pardon the pun) stay grounded in His word.

Obeying His command to love, keeps me in His love because I recognize that there is no possible way I can do that on my own. Simply keeping the 10 commandments apart from loving others will do you no good. Jesus calls us to love as He loves. He doesn’t just call us…He commands us. Over and over. Check these verses where He reiterates it. 

John 13: 34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.

John:15:12-14 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command.

John 15: 17 This is my command: Love each other.

Are you seeing the theme emerging that Jesus was trying to get across to those of us who profess to follow Him? Yet many of us spend our time arguing, judging, and comparing...Even calling people out on our social media feeds, seeking to show others our disgust or disdain at what we consider to be their errant thoughts and ideas without ever following the council in Matthew 18. hmmm...

Perhaps it's time for a refocusing of our spiritual priorities and returning to our calling to love.
What was it Jesus said?  

Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.

True Worshippers-Do They Exist?

  The ability to see, to perceive with the eyes.  A field of vision. Sometimes we see clearly, sometimes we don’t.  When we worship God we surrender our lives to His will.  And in doing so, the fog begins to lift and we see clearly.  What object has become the focus of your attention these days?  For most of us the object of our attention is us.  

“How will my financial needs get met.”  “How will I meet my deadlines at work?” “When will my relationships get fixed?”  

But what if it were never meant to be that way?  What if God were really the only Object worth focusing on?  What if our focus on His beauty made our problems pale in comparison?  What if we were never meant to be the actors on center stage?  What if we were meant to be the audience members, watching Jesus on center stage?  Is that what true worshippers do?  Is that what true worship is all about?  So how’s your eyesight?  

I don’t know about you, but there seems to be a never-ending supply of things that blur my vision; a continual bombardment of my senses that leave me with a foggy view of God; a siren call off of the high ground and back to the low.  Ever since the fall of man, Satan has been devising ways and means to blur or distort our picture of who God really is.  And he’s gotten very good at it.

He starts when you are very young, and utilizes adults in your life to distort your view of God: An abusive parent; A sexual predator; An impatient and harsh teacher who is supposed to be a Christian.  Satan has endless ways or people to mess up your picture of who God is and what He is like because He knows that if he can mar the image of God when you are young, you will reject God as the answer to your search and you will look to any number of ways to fill the longing deep in your soul. And your vision grows blurry.

If he can’t succeed by marring the picture when you are very young, he’ll work on you in your teenage years through peer pressure, pop culture and hurtful relationships, all the while utilizing all of the tools he may have used earlier in life.  He knows if he can derail you here, he can lead you down a road from which many never return.  And a fog descends.

In young adulthood, he will continue to use relationships, work associates, your new-found legal status and freedom from parental restrictions to entice you, oftentimes out of curiosity, into places and situations where no Christian should find themselves.  And the picture is marred still more.

And if that doesn’t work, if he can just marry you off to someone with a distorted picture of God, then they can work up close and personal on your picture.  This human relationship often becomes paramount for how we view ourselves, and we take our eyes completely off of God and place them on our spouse and ourselves.  And if one or the other isn’t refocusing on God on a consistent basis and helping the other to do the same, your world will shrink to just you and your immediate circumstances.  And your picture of God goes more out of focus.

Later, when things just aren’t working out and you find yourself the victim of a cheating spouse or an abusive spouse or an admiring co-worker, your gaze shifts yet again, seeking a solution to the mess you find yourself in.  Add young children to that mix, and you will suddenly become a tool in the hands of Satan to mar the image of God for the next generation.   And on and on it goes with seemingly no solutions or way out of your predicament, because Satan has done a masterful job of hiding God from your view.

John Piper has observed, "Worship has to do with real life. It is not a mythical interlude in a week of reality. Worship has to do with adultery and hunger and racial conflict."  True worship is a way out our predicament.

Craig Brian Larson reminds us of the time not long ago, when “the world watched as three gray whales, icebound off Point Barrow, Alaska, floated battered and bloody, gasping for breath at a hole in the ice. Their only hope: somehow to be transported five miles past the ice pack to open sea. Rescuers began cutting a string of breathing holes about twenty yards apart in the six-inch-thick ice.

"For eight days they coaxed the whales from one hole to the next, mile after mile. Along the way, one of the trio vanished and was presumed dead. But finally, with the help of Russian icebreakers, the whales, now named Putu and Siku, swam to freedom.

"In a way, worship is a string of breathing holes the Lord provides his people. Battered and bruised in a world frozen over with greed, selfishness, and hatred, we rise for air in church, a place to breathe again, to be loved and encouraged, until that day when the Lord forever shatters the ice cap."   (Craig Brian Larson, Leadership, Vol. 11, no. 2)

The problem is, we have gotten a distorted view of worship as well.  We’ve made it “me-focused” instead of Christ-focused. In Experience God in Worship George Barna observes the contemporary Christian's view of worship: "Most adults will contend that a Christian has a responsibility to worship God. However, when asked to define what worship means, two out of three are unable to offer an appropriate definition or description of worship.

"Even among the people who consistently attend Christian worship services, apparently for the purpose of worshiping God, the majority does not consider worship to be a 'top priority' in their lives. It need not be the top priority; but most of them do not even include it among a laundry list of top priorities."

He goes on to reveal the true motivation behind many American Christian's attendance at worship services. He says it's to "satisfy or please them, not to honor or please God" (p. 15). 

We must be cautious of turning our worship and religion into a man-centered selfish pursuit. Worship has always been and will always be about God - whether we recognize it or not. For in the end "at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:10-11). -Preaching September/October 2002

Which brings us to this passage in scripture where Jesus talked about worship. 

John 4: 4   Now he had to go through Samaria.  5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.  6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.  7   When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”  8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)  9   The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)  10   Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”  11   “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?  12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”  13   Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,  14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  15   The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”  16   He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”  17   “I have no husband,” she replied.

 Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.  18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”  19   “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.  20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”  21   Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.  22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.  23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.  24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”  25   The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”  26   Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”  27   Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”  28   Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people,  29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”  30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

Here’s a woman who has so had the image of God marred by bad choices and relationships that she has to come to the well in the heat of the day, instead of the morning or evening when it is cooler.  When Jesus engages her in conversation she is stunned, and even more so when He tells her about her current living arrangements.  But Jesus simply points out the obvious so that she will be open to seeing what is truly important.  He is trying to restore to her a better picture of what God is like, and in so doing, gives us a very good picture of what God is looking for.  True worshippers.  Look again at verses 23 and 24. 

23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.  24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

Have you ever wondered what that meant?  What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth? In his book The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren notes, "Since worship is delighting in and enjoying God, it engages your emotions. God gave you emotions so you could worship him with deep feeling -- but those emotions must be genuine, not faked. God hates hypocrisy. He doesn't want a show, or pretense, or phoniness in worship. He wants your honest, real love. We can worship God imperfectly, but we cannot worship him insincerely.

"Of course, sincerity alone is not enough; you can be sincerely wrong. That's why both spirit and truth are required. Worship must be both authentic and accurate. God-pleasing worship is deeply emotional and deeply doctrinal. We use both our hearts and our heads.

In another place, in the same book, he says: “In our competitive world we’re taught to never quit trying, never give up, and never give in - so we don’t hear much about surrendering. If winning is everything, surrendering is unthinkable. Even Christians would rather talk about winning, succeeding, overcoming, and conquering than yielding, submitting, obeying, and surrendering. But surrendering to God is the heart of worship.

“Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer.

“True worship -- bringing God pleasure -- happens when you give yourself completely to God.” (from Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Life)

Inspired author Ellen White, in her book The Desire of Ages, page 189 writing about this story says: He (Jesus) desired to lift the thoughts of His hearer above matters of form and ceremony, and questions of controversy. "The hour cometh," He said, "and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."  {DA 189.1}

Here is declared the same truth that Jesus had revealed to Nicodemus when He said, "Except a man be born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3, margin. Not by seeking a holy mountain or a sacred temple are men brought into communion with heaven. Religion is not to be confined to external forms and ceremonies. The religion that comes from God is the only religion that will lead to God. In order to serve Him aright, we must be born of the divine Spirit. This will purify the heart and renew the mind, giving us a new capacity for knowing and loving God. It will give us a willing obedience to all His requirements. This is true worship. It is the fruit of the working of the Holy Spirit. By the Spirit every sincere prayer is indicted, and such prayer is acceptable to God. Wherever a soul reaches out after God, there the Spirit's working is manifest, and God will reveal Himself to that soul. For such worshipers He is seeking. He waits to receive them, and to make them His sons and daughters. {DA 189.2}

God longs for us to seek Him and be born of His divine spirit.  It is only in this that we have a new capacity for knowing and loving God.  It
will give us a willing obedience to all His requirements.  Romans 12: 1,2 says:

1   Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.  2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.

True worshippers are those who don’t just offer a praise song.  They don’t just throw a buck at the offering plate.  They offer themselves as a spiritual act of worship.  They become consumed with a passion for God.  They are ones who are no longer being squeezed into the world’s mold.  They don’t allow Satan to mar their picture of God through looking at the things of the world.  Instead, they are being transformed through worship that renews their minds.  How do you know if that’s you?

Pastor, author and speaker, Louie Giglio writes: "Follow the trail of your time, your affection, your energy, your money and your allegiance. At the end of that trail, you'll find a throne; and whatever, or whomever, is on that throne is what's of highest value to you. On that throne is what you worship." (Louie Giglio, The Air I Breathe)

What if God were really the only Object worth focusing on?  What if our focus on His beauty made our problems pale in comparison?  What if we were never meant to be the actors on center stage?  What if we were meant to be the audience members, watching Jesus on center stage?

Your Gethsemane Experience can Lead to a Resurrection

 I just finished re-reading the book of John this morning, and I began picturing the closing chapters describing the Gethsemane experience of Jesus, agonizing in the dark aloneness before His Father, feeling the weight of the sins of the world descending on Him and causing Jesus to feel the separation from His Father. This was followed by the betrayal of a friend, and the abandonment of others who said they would never forsake Him, a one-sided trial, physical abuse and suffering and finally a crucifixion and death.   

And for the disciples, all hope was totally smashed and they spent the darkest, loneliest, most fearful weekend of their lives.  They questioned all that they learned and been through over the past 3 and a half years.  They wondered if it were all for nothing.  They forgot that just hours before, Jesus had told them plainly that He must suffer and die (read John ch 13-17)  And as they grieved, the oppressor of humanity came and peddled despair to add insult to injury.  Nothing had gone the way that they had hoped or planned.  But they had forgotten something.  God wasn’t following their plan. He was fulfilling His!  And His plans always turn out better than ours.

At the tomb, Sunday morning, a dejected Mary arrives to find it empty.  She makes assumptions and then  Runs back to Jerusalem and tells the disciples that Jesus’ body had been taken.  Peter and John run to the tomb and find the grave clothes and wonder what in the world had happened.  And though that dawn had split time in two, it had yet to dawn on them.  They left dejected as Mary finally got back.  

Let’s pick up the story in John 20.  John 20:11    Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. ¹² She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. ¹³  “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her. 

 “Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”

14   She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. ¹⁵ “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?” 

 She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”

16   “Mary!” Jesus said. 

She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).

17    “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

18    Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.

Later, Jesus Himself appeared among them, and at the risk of sounding cliché, the light finally dawned.  And new hope sprang to life. And they found, in Christ, all they had ever hoped for and more was resurrected within them.

Which leads me to this.  ALL of us will have our Gethsemane experiences.  We will feel separated from God.  We will feel the tempter and oppressor of our souls breathing his ugly, dark breath down our necks as he seeks to peddle despair to our discouraged hearts and snuff out any flicker of hope that may be seeking to rise.  He will have friends betray us, people abandon us, others judge us unfairly and then heap abuse on us in many various forms.

And he will seek to have you, in the midst of your distress,  pursue a course that would have you terminate your existence. And many do, as they often opt for a permanent solution to a temporary problem, and the enemy sweeps them into eternity.  But here is where Jesus’ death and resurrection made it possible for you and I to flip the script.

If you and I can only see it differently, we would see that in our darkest moments, we don’t have to give in to the temptation to end our existence, or our marriage, or whatever the temptation to give up on is, or even to lose hope.  But we can, like Jesus, pray for either the temptation to leave (let this cup pass from me) or for God to give us the strength to bear up under it.  (But not my will, YOUR will, Father) 

In either case, it leads to a death. But not a final one.  It actually becomes a death that leads to resurrection.  Paul called it “the death to self”(Gal 2:19) and even said, “I die every day!” (1 Cor 15:31). And this dying to self allows for a new resurrection.

You lay down all of the abuses, the judgments, the abandonment, the betrayal and look to Christ for restoration.  You choose to give up yourself and your will,  in deference to the Father’s will for your life, recognizing that HIS plan is always better than yours, and HE will remake things for you.

This winter, I have personally gone through what Mother Teresa, when speaking of her experience with God over the course of almost 50 years,  termed her “dark night of the soul”.  I have been beset by trauma’s in my youth perpetrated against me, stupid choices made in trying to work my own way out of difficulties, temptations from things that I thought were long since buried, discouragement in my work, depression and darkness and hopeless feelings and a desire to cash in 40 years of ministry.  And where I found hope was recognizing that I was in my own Gethsemane experience.  It was all dark around me…and the tempter of souls was screaming a thousand lies into my head…and he almost won.  I almost cashed it in and walked away from ministry and from God.   But I continued to hold on to my devotional habit and I forced myself to continue to go into the Word each day…though the rest of my day was often beset with darkness and depression.  

Where I found renewed hope was back in Gethsemane, the cross and the resurrection.  It is a metaphor for so much of what we experience.   We experience the darkness…sometimes the death of dreams or hopes…but God is a God of resurrections.  And He is restoring me daily.  I had to die to a few things in the darkness…with self being the one that I, like Paul, am having to relearn to die to daily.   And in the resurrections is where new hope is found.

Don’t run from your Gethsemane experience.  Stay there and ask God for the strength to endure it and then to rise once again to walk in the newness of life.

Long Haul Endurance

 As this Covid thing rages on, I find myself growing very weary, and some days, just flat out discouraged. It's so hard some days just to get up and put one foot in front of the other and make yourself go out the door to do the same things you've done so many days before. And to make it worse, it sometimes feels like you aren't getting anywhere. Which is what makes today's word stand out like a sore thumb. I woke up this morning with the word "ENDURANCE" on my mind.

I thought first of Joseph and all he had to endure. I thought of the text that we looked at a few months ago that started simply with the words, "Two years passed..." when Pharaoh's butler had forgotten him in the jail after promising to tell Pharaoh about him. Contrast that with the idea that we are about 9 or 10 months into this COVID trial, and he had another 14 months totally BEYOND that. Bless his heart...and that was AFTER he had been sold into slavery by his brothers and falsely accused by Potiphar's wife! He truly ENDURED a lot!

My mind went next to Moses and how much he had to endure just leading the children of Israel through the wilderness for 40 years. I will be finishing 40 years of ministry next May seeking to lead the children of Adventists and at many turns, it has been totally exhausting. The complaining, the stubbornness, the power plays and the criticism that Moses had to endure, I've also had to endure...but what's worse, unlike Moses, I've turned around and done the same to those God put over me. They have had to endure ME! (and I know that sometimes I'm not the most pleasant to be around).

I next thought about Jesus. He endured much. When you think of a spotless, totally innocent, holy being, having to just COME to this earth, it had to be painful to His divinity. Perhaps that is why God had Him be born and grow up, so He didn't have to learn about all of the evil all at once. Contrast that to the end of His life AFTER He had encountered demons, masses of broken people and hated by those who claimed to be representing Him.

To be alone in the Garden, much like Eve thousands of years earlier, facing the tempter and enemy of souls, but with the heat turned up way beyond what Eve and Adam had to face. Yet Jesus endured. He held on and persisted in prayer. He asked for what He wanted, yet said, "But not if it is in place of YOUR Will, Father. I want YOUR will above mine." And HE endured to the very end of His life to give us hope in the middle of ours.

It is during the most difficult times that we are to endure hardship so the Lord can show Himself strong in our lives. The Bible doesn’t just speak to physical suffering, but especially to suffering for the sake of the Gospel. It doesn’t just call us to endure suffering, but to embrace it. Check out these passages.

2Tim. 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

8 ¶ So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us to a holy life — not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.

1Pet. 4:12 ¶ Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

19 ¶ So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

What was that? Those who suffer according to God’s will… whoa…hold the phone… What does that mean? God wants us to suffer?

No…but He doesn’t necessarily want to rescue us from the troubles of this life because if He did, He knows that we would just be satisfied with staying here and then we would never long for heaven…so He allows suffering. Suffering, from that perspective then, is within His will… Whenever it comes, Peter says our response should be to commit ourselves to our faithful Creator and continue to do good.

Paul writing to Timothy says: 2 Timothy 2:3 "Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus." -

The writer of the book of Hebrews 12:7 "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?"

James adds this. James 1:2 ¶ Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. (endurance) 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

That’s a reason for endurance. It helps us become mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Need one more reason to develop endurance and perseverance in your life?

James 1:12 ¶ Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

So yeah...I'm tired of this COVID mess, and I wish it would just go away... I'm tired of this election mess and the uncertainties it continues to bring. I'm overwhelmed at times by all of the evil, sickness, death, and other things beyond my control, but I am called to endure it, and whatever other trials come my way, knowing that my faith is being built day by day, one choice at a time and that in due time, like Joseph, I will be taken from this dump of a prison to the palaces, not of Pharaoh, but of God Himself.

Hold on my friend! You too, with the the grace and help of God, can endure today.