Safetypinlove

We don’t always understand why God does what He does. But we can trust Him because He is trustworthy. And one day we will finally be able to grasp…one day we will see very clearly what God was up to all along. But for right now, all we can do is trust…for it will happen as God has planned. That’s because God is the same today, tomorrow, and forever. In this Psalm, King David doesn’t deny that he’s afraid and confused…but he makes the deliberate decision to trust in God’s steadfast love…moving from fear to faith. And the same is for us today…the shift from lament to confident trust is ours to make. “I have trusted in Your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in Your Salvation.” (Psalm 13:5)

Earlier in Chapter 6, Jesus explains the Message of Salvation by grace. (John 6: 35-59) But many in the crowd, including His own disciples took offense at His Words, refused to listen, and rejected His teaching. It became a decisive turning point in Jesus’ Ministry when many abandoned Him because His Words had confronted their unbelief and challenged their expectations. In other words, they claimed Him and His Name until it didn’t fit their lifestyle and made them uncomfortable. We all will go through a crisis of faith when we have to make that same kind of decision…to stand with Jesus despite social pressures, opposition, and conflict…or turn away. But in the end, if we persevere, Jesus will affirm our loyalty as He did with His disciples when He said, ” You are those who have stayed with Me in My trials.” (Luke 22:28)

In Isaiah’s day, ashes were worn on the head as a sign of despair, heavy burdens, and overwhelming sorrow and suffering. And sadly, many times in our life time we will find ourselves focused on the ashes of what might of been rather than taking comfort in the Lord and finding the joy that had been eluding us. In this passage we are promised comfort… to wear praise as a headdress instead of the ashes of heaviness. The prophecy in Chapter 61 was fulfilled in the Ministry of Christ as He Himself declared comfort for the poor and oppressed in Luke 4:18-19 when He quoted this passage. And this wonderful promise continues to comfort us today.

You may never fully realize the impact your life has had, but you can only trust that God will lovingly tend to all the seeds you have planted. And with His care, beautiful things will grow. If you’ve ever had a garden, you know vegetable and flower seeds come in all different sizes, and in my study, I discovered the largest seed is a species of coconut that can weigh up to 88 lbs. , while the smallest seed is from a species of orchid that measures 0.05 mm and looks like dust. So follow this analogy for a moment. Luke 8:11 tells us that the Word of God is the seed we’re to be planting, but as we look at our life, most of us feel we have fallen very short in the planting. But we need to remember then that God tends to all the seeds we’ve planted, both big and small…giant and tiny…a wonderful good work or just a passing word of encouragement. It doesn’t matter the size of the seed we plant…only that we don’t stop planting.

In Luke 6:35, Jesus’ radical commandment to love your enemies was completely contrary to familiar Jewish teaching of, “love one’s neighbors, and harm your enemies.” But as the Apostle Paul taught in Ephesians 5:1-2, we are to be imitators of God and walk in love…which means to be merciful, compassionate, and self-sacrificial to all…even to those who have wronged us. Consequently, as we walk through life, we’ll be confronted with this very thing. And sometimes, though it’s tough, the holiest thing we can do is to love someone who doesn’t deserve it…because that’s what Jesus did when He died for our sins. (I Peter 3:18) Lastly, think about it, if love was only for the deserving…none of us would ever qualify.

As Believers, we need to first acknowledge that God’s perspective is eternal, all-knowing, and perfectly aligned with His justice and love…while ours is limited by time, space, and finite in understanding. Proverbs 3:5-6 exhorts us to trust in His perspective and not ours. But many times we turn back because we’re afraid to look at things from God’s point of view. This spiritual crisis in our life comes when God asks us to move in our faith farther than what we’ve already accepted. In other words, He asks us to stretch beyond what we’re comfortable with. But unless we align our trust with God’s higher view, we’ll never become our very best for His glory and our good.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan that Jesus taught in Luke 10: 30-37 was in response to a Jewish lawyer’s question as to who exactly was his neighbor that he had to love? Robbers had left a man beaten and clinging to life when a Samaritan came upon him. He didn’t see a Jew that despised his culture, but a person needing help… and he refused to walk away as a Priest and Levite (both respected religious figures) and done earlier. The Samaritan didn’t know how the man got there…unconscious, bleeding and lying by the side of the road…all he saw was someone who desperately needed help. But neither did he judge, condemn, chastise, or desert him like the others. Instead, he offered unexpected kindness, active compassion, and mercy beyond the cultural boundaries between the two of them. So when Jesus asked the lawyer which man “loved his neighbor?”… the lawyer had to admit it was the person he least expected or wanted to love. To this Jesus said to him, “You go and do likewise.”

What happened next was Jesus’ first recorded miracle…turning water into wine at the Wedding in Cana. (John 2:1-11) But before the water was turned into wine, someone had to do the tedious and tiresome task of hauling 120-180 gallons of water. When we pray for a miracle, we want it to happen NOW…but more often it means obedience on our part FIRST in small, and often unseen submission. The wedding party had no idea where the wine came from…for it was only the servants who had filled those jars that were aware of the great miracle that had just happened before their eyes. So as you wait on the Lord, remember that obedience is the key…for God’s plan and purpose is in the process, not the end goal.

The whole purpose of lighting a lamp is that it may give light. God’s Truth is that light in the life of Believers…thus, as His faithful, we are to be openly living & sharing His light to the world. In Matthew 5:14-15, Jesus urges all Believers to, “Let your light shine.” This is because Jesus is the light of the world (John 1:9 & 8:12), and His light now shines through us, His Church. (I John 1:8-10) Therefore, the ultimate plan and purpose of Jesus’ Ministry here on earth was not to conceal God’s light, but to display it to all. (Mark 4:21-22) And as members of His Church, we are then to let His light shine through us.

When your heart is tired and your spirit is worn-out…remember God is your rest. He will renew your strength and carry you through the storm you’re going through today. The God Who commands the universe also stoops to empower, sustain, and encourage His children. (Psalm 68:35, Psalm 119:28, Jeremiah 31:25) Elsewhere in Isaiah, It tells us that God will heal, guide, and restore the weary and faint. But this takes daily dependence on God’s guidance with intentional fellowship on our part…modeling a rhythm of prayer, reflection, and obedience exemplified by His Son, Jesus Christ. (Mark 1:35, John 5:19-20)