|
My Two Cents
by Rev Chuck Behrens
May, 2016
|
Past Articles |
|
As many of us northeastern
Ohioans know, the beginning of Spring does not necessarily coincide with
the official date on the calendar, unfortunately! It's why we had 6 inches
of snow on April 9th. For some of us it's Spring when we see the first
Robin, or the first blossom, or green grass. For me, it's Spring the day
the forsythia comes out. They appear suddenly. I'm driving along the
highway one day, they're not there, and then the next day there's yellow
everywhere! I want to yell out the window, "Hey everybody! It's Spring
today!" Actually none of this Spring explosion of color is really sudden.
Those flowers have been getting ready to bloom for weeks; it's just that I
couldn't see them until now.
There's a basic principle in how our creator God works. A lot of what He
does is invisible - like the com-ing of Spring or the coming of a baby.
It's quite a while before we can actually see any evidence of a baby
developing inside his Mom. In fact it takes a test to verify that God's
actually begun a new life. Again, God at work invisibly. If you based it
on what you could see, you'd conclude that God isn't doing anything.
Well, keep that in mind as we look at Mark 4:35, "That day when evening
came, Jesus said to his disci-ples, 'Let's go over to the other side.'
Leaving the crowd behind, they took Him along, just as He was, in the
boat. There were also other boats with Him. A furious squall came up and
the waves broke over the boat so it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the
stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke Him and said, 'Teacher,
don't you care if we drown.' He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the
waves, 'Quiet. Be still'. And then the wind died down and it was
completely calm.
He said to His disciples, 'Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no
faith?' And they were terrified and asked each other, 'Who is this? Even
the wind and the waves obey Him!'" Now Jesus found His disci-ples saying
"We're in a jam and Jesus isn't doing anything!" And they even went
further. They said, "Don't you care?" They were making all kinds of
mistakes and accusations because they were basing everything on what they
could see Jesus doing.
Maybe you're making that same kind of mistake right now. Things seem
increasingly out of control. You're nearly swamped. You've been praying
about it but Jesus doesn't seem to be doing anything about it. Or is He?
He's promised, in Romans 8:28, "God is working all things together for
good to those who love God and are the called according to His purpose."
Right now, through this ongoing process, He's working them together. God
is preparing your answer for you and He's preparing you for your answer.
But, like plants getting ready to bloom, and babies getting ready to be
born, much of Gods working is invisible. We mistake God being invisible in
our situation for God being inactive in our situation. Wrong! He's never
inactive when it comes to the concerns of His kids.
On that stormy lake that day the disciples panicked unnecessarily because
they couldn't see Jesus do-ing anything. They succumbed to unbelief, even
with a Savior who had never let them down. Maybe your storm is having the
same effect on you. It looks as if things are out of control. But there is
no such thing as out of control when you belong to the God who rules
everything. Calming your storm is nothing for Him, He just says, "Quiet,
be still!" His problem is with calming you. Maybe it's you that's out of
con-trol.
Jesus has never let a storm sink you yet. He's never left you unprovided
for, and over and over in the past He's amazed you with His power, with
his timing. Is this going to be different? No way! Like those Forsythia
flowers, God's working will one day blossom suddenly and you'll be amazed
again. But right now, when you can see nothing but more Winter, your Lord
is skillfully and faithfully preparing your Spring. Don't lose hope; don't
lose faith now! I bet already since April 9th you've already felt. .
.shouted "It's Spring again!" NOW LIVE LIKE IT!
See you in Church,
Rev. Chuck
|
|
