phone booth ringing? Now in today's culture, phone booths are rare. With the advent of cell phones, who needs a public phone anymore? But when that rare time happens...as I hear that ring...as I'm passing by the phone...I can't help but wonder, "Is it for me?" Its weird, I admit, and maybe I've seen too many movies where the call is for the person walking by...and of course, something incredible happens "because they answered it!" I don't know, but am I the only one who thinks such things? Don't we all have a bit of "me" in our thinking. Ya know...they must be laughing at "me"...they must be talking about "me"...that call must be for "me". OK, maybe not, but in certain situations we all share the common thought of..."well that kinda of stuff only happens to them...but not me." But we sure wished it was for us too, don't we? I think we think that way often about God's interactions with people in scripture too. One of the most favorite stories of Jesus in scripture, has Him in a boat, with His disciples, cruising across the sea as He had instructed. As seems to happen when Jesus and His followers are in a boat...a storm breaks out. Apparently storms are not that unusual to fishermen (as many of the disciples were) who make a living enduring such things...but this storm scared them...and scared them a lot! What was a trip this time, Jesus was sound asleep! Picture this for a moment. These guys are screamin' for their lives thinking their gonna die...and Jesus is taking in a little nap time. How funny is this scene? Even funnier, is when you consider these same guys "screamin' in fear like little school girls", had seen Jesus do some pretty incredible things. They saw Jesus heal people...feed people...protect people...even tell the winds to be still...yet fear still gripped their souls? With Jesus "in the boat" with them...fear still overwhelmed them. Even though they saw Jesus "show up" multiple times in the past for others in their time of need...they doubted if He'd show up for them? Isn't that sadly funny. We've seen God doing amazing things for others...but when our butts are on the line we wonder, "but will He do it for me?" In their moment of fear, as irrational as it may seem, they did the right thing...they went to Jesus. When they woke Him up, His first words were about their lack of faith (or lack of trust in Him). Yet even in their fear...even in their lack of faith...Jesus still protected them and they survived. Isn't it good to know that God can put up with my "fear". That He is not gonna "shine me on" because of my lack of faith. That His love endures my "screamin' like a school girl"...even when He is right by my side. Even when He is in the boat with me, and I freak out...He is still there for me, and He'll get me through. I know my life has its share of scary and uncertain moments...some in which I wonder if I'll even survive. And yet, even though I know Jesus is with me, I allow fear to overtake my faith...yet Jesus still gets me through anyway. At ECHO, we are so glad Jesus loves you and me...like He does those fearful disciples in the boat. We are so glad these are not just stories in a"book", but something we can experience. We are so glad He is patient with our lack of faith...and those times we freak out and scream "but what about me?" It is so good to know personally...and to express to others...the incredibly good news of a God who not only "does stuff for others", but also "shows up for you too". The bible reminds us that "God is for us...not against us." It says Jesus promises, "He'll never leave us...or forsake us." I hope this is as reassuring to you...as it is to me!
be God's!
Brian O
ECHO
Lead Pastor dude, ECHO
No comments:
Post a Comment