Does Jesus trust you?

November 17, 2023

Maria 2 Timothy 2, Evangelism, John 2 , , , 2 Comments

Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in him. But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew all about people. John 2:23-24 NLT

We encounter people every day, when we are out and about, who say they believe in God.  But if you probe a bit, you quickly find out that they believe in ‘a God’, that there is something or someone supernatural called God.  But that is as far as they go.

As Mike often points out, in any worthwhile discussion we must start by defining our terms. We ask, therefore: ‘What do you mean by God?  Who is God to you?’ and ‘What do you mean by ‘believe in’? What does that look like in your life?’

I have those kinds of conversations regularly.  But they all tend to be one-directional, about whether A PERSON believes God, trusts God. The issue regularly centers on what kind of relationship someone has with God….. from his point of view.

But I don’t think I’ve pondered more than a split second the question of whether Jesus trusts me?  Whether he knows that I am worthy of his confidence, someone he can count on. Being honest and generous with myself, I probably live 50 % of my day committed to God, counting on him to come through and taking him at his word.  Those hours (not all consecutive) of my day, I DO actually believe that his promises are valid, true and legit and that I can apply them for the day’s very specific and actual needs.

So, with a ‘mercy’ grade of 50% (which is way below a failing F), I confront the question of whether the Son actually evaluates me as trustworthy.

If I were to make a case on my behalf, I would point out, in my defense, Jesus’ disciples: ‘Well, look at them! What about them? They deserted you, every single one. Furthermore, Peter even denied knowing you. And Thomas refused to believe the testimony of his 10 closest male friends when they said they had seen the risen Jesus’.

I bet Jesus wouldn’t even ‘go there’. He’d ignore my point about his guys.  Because, the good news is that he knows about all people. He knows that I can’t be counted on.  Were he a normal human being, he’d be justified in not trusting me.  But he has YOU and me, grace upon grace.  We don’t have to count on ourselves being trustworthy. Because we won’t be, consistently.

If we are not faithful, he will still be faithful. Christ cannot deny who he is.” 2 Timothy 2:13 CEV

So, I’m off the hook.  Nevertheless, I WANT to please Jesus. I WANT to prove that I am someone he can trust.  For those who think grace might be too risky and totally lacking rational thought for God to offer, since we ‘might’ just go on sinning all the more, I will counter with the reality of my life and that of many other authentic, but very wobbly believers I know.  The real Christian is a child, a man, a woman who gasps at the offer of undeserved favor. Then gradually as he comes better to know Christ, he starts to long to please the gift-giver out of ever increasing holy and wondrous awe.

When God doesn’t remove you from painful situations

September 7, 2023

Maria John 2, Psalm 23, suffering, Uncategorized , , , 8 Comments

You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. Psalm 23:5 NLT

The Lord kept me at a school for 5 years longer than I wanted. Three months into the first semester I felt slammed by attacks on several sides: parents, students, administration.  From my point of view all were unfair and unwarranted. With more than 20 years experiences teaching French, my hurt pride reacted poorly.  I complained a lot to Mike and to God.

Summers, seeking a way out from the pressure, I tried earnestly to find other jobs. But the Lord had his reasons for making me stay put. Thus, each August, I reluctantly returned to my classroom.

But it wasn’t all misery and, by the second year, I started to see the positive. Colleagues embraced me and I started eating lunch with them each day, learning how they approached life. New outdoors adventures, such as practicing survival upside down rotations in a kayak, caused me to cling to Jesus. One year I planned and took students to Québec, witnessing their joy in using the French they had learned. I ‘bombed’ enough French classes, thus acquiring skill and gumption to pivot from ‘failure’ into something creative and effective. Although I didn’t WANT to be at this school, I acknowledge the personal and professional benefits and growth.

But not until this week, while meditating on the 23rd psalm did I understand what God might mean by verse 5 where he promises times of feasting in the presence of enemies.

More valuable than what the Lord gave me through teaching insights, field trips, caring and supportive colleagues emerged from God’s showing himself as more satisfying than pleasant circumstances. Begrudgingly, I started to learn and practice contentment in the midst of suffering.

In the attacks on my person and professionalism, I had no option but to crawl in shame and humility to Jesus’ side. And he turned out to be enough, much more. It really is true that when all you have is Jesus, he is all you need.

So, take comfort in suffering.  Next time you’re in a narrow, dark, tight spot that seems to go on and on, look for the hidden food that will enrich you like at no other time.

And this nourishment is not merely healthy and sufficient as was the manna in the wilderness. No, it’s more akin to that abundant ‘best wine’, reserved for a feast.  Jesus didn’t simply keep the flow of ordinary wedding wine going. Out of love he set up the young bridegroom to be known as a generous and welcome member of his wife’s family and the community.

May we trust our Lord to venture on with him when he leads us through unwanted dark and narrow passages where nothing good looms. Let us believe that he really is good!

Why do I keep expecting people to act a certain way?

December 29, 2022

Maria 1 John 3, Fasting, God's commands, Hope, Husbands, Isaiah 58, John 2, Psalm 118, Waiting, Yoke , , , 1 Comment

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You will cry for help, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, …. Isaiah 58:9 NASB

Christmas Eve and we were returning home from having shared a lovely Louisiana gumbo supper with some friends after the service.  In our warm and cozy truck, I mentioned to Mike that the previous night our bedroom has been too hot to sleep well. I suggested, “How about we just turn off the heat in the house, so the bedroom will be nice and cold?”  He nixed that idea, countering with, “just open the window a crack.” Annoyed because I didn’t think that alone would be enough to cool down the room, I said to myself, “He ‘should’ know how important sleep is to me!”

There it was, an expectation that I had projected on Mike. Only, I didn’t realize that was what I had done.  But God’s perceptive eye didn’t miss it.

As the Holy Spirit would have it, our readings for Christmas Day included Isaiah 58 about the kind of fast the Lord wants his children to celebrate.  The prophet puts it bluntly: we should not fast religiously or selfishly, simply to check it off our list, but enter into a fast with a heart set on worshipping our creator, sustainer and holy God.

As I worked through the first part of verse 9, I felt comforted by God’s promise to respond promptly to my cries for help with a “I’m here!”.

But then my eyes moved on to that ‘yoke business’ mentioned toward the end of that same verse.  I wrote in my journal, “Father, have I placed a yoke on anyone?  Am I expecting others to act a certain way?”

Last night’s conversation quickly came to mind. I DO have and I HAVE formulated expectations of Mike and other family members, and friends, as well. Do these precious people FEEL my dissatisfaction when they don’t ‘meet my standards’?

Yikes! That unarticulated but very real pressure must feel burdensome, especially on those who live with me, like Mike.  Others might feel the sting of my occasional disappointment, but Mike surely notices the ‘yoke of expectation’ that I hang on him.

We fragile human beings can never satisfy the impossibly high criteria OTHERS use to evaluate us.  I should know NOT to engage in that practice, since I have suffered the pain (and shame) of family members’, friends’ and bosses’ pointed dissatisfaction with me.

What is the solution?

Well, I can’t control what others think of me, but God has given me Holy Spirit power to change my thinking.  He commands Christians to renovate their minds, their way of thinking and concluding through a a changing heart, one saturated by his word. And what Jesus commands, he makes possible.

Since Christmas Day, I keep reading scripture that reenforces this message. We are to hope in God, not people. ‘Hope’ can be translated in both Hebrew and Greek as ‘to expect or wait for someone to act’.

Psalm 118:8 NKJV says: It is better to trust in the LORD, than to put confidence in man.

Even Jesus didn’t trust people, because he knew them: But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, because He knew all people…John 2:24 NASB

John Piper, in a recent devotional reflected on 1 John 3:23: This is His commandment, that we believe [with personal faith and confident trust] in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and [that we unselfishly] love and seek the best for one another, just as He commanded us. NASB

He distilled John’s teaching to something I am meditating on throughout the day:  Trust Jesus, Love people.

God is the only person in the universe who deserves our trust and won’t disappoint me.  Shouldn’t that fact free us up to release our unfair and unverbalized expectations of people that we hold in our hearts?