Is Jesus behaving the way you want him to behave?
Mike Harding brings up a thought provoking question this week in his teaching of Mark 14.
Is Jesus behaving the way I want him to behave?
If I was to be honest about this question, I would have to say no.
My house isn’t sold, my kids are still having lingering trouble at their new schools, and I haven’t found that “perfect” part-time job. All these things I have trusted Jesus with and He isn’t doing what I want Him to do. I want Him to provide answers, opportunities and sold signs. I want the road, here in the middle, to be easier. Doesn’t He understand all that I have been through these last couple of months?
As much as I don’t want to consider it: there must be a bigger plan that allows for me to be uncomfortable. There are opportunities for growth and change here, but if you ask me, they don’t sound like much fun. Do I dismiss Jesus and His plan because change and growth seem daunting?
Often I feel this way, but, then I get a smack of reality from the world’s headlines. Tragedy is all around us. And it is not going away. People go without food and housing all the time. Death and destruction happen daily. God has so graciously provided so much for my family and I need to find joy in those things. I must continue to trust Him when things are not working out according to MY plan.
We live in a three-bedroom apartment with not much room for alone time. Everyone has decided Mom and Dad’s bed is the place to be to watch football games. So, while watching the BCS Championship game on Monday, we all piled into our queen sized bed – the four of us, plus two dogs. Then, of course, the teasing began. We were having so much fun and got to laughing so hard! Right then, God invaded my thinking: if we were in a house, we wouldn’t have had this much fun tonight because everyone would have retreated to their own space. This caused me to praise Jesus for this small home and the added “togetherness” time.
I believe Jesus is blessing us all the time. It is our job is to look closely for those blessings. Open your mind and ask God to give you His eyes to see what He is doing. Disappointments will come but God knows what He is doing; He sees the bigger picture.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9
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