April 2, 2010

April 2, 2010 Leviticus 5
Thank you, Lord, that my trespasses against you can be atoned for. They are paid for and covered over by the blood of the sacrifice of Your Son. Indeed You are a glorious King. Enable me to speak Your glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
April 2 Luke 7;1-30
Circumstances often discourage us. We get a picture in our minds of how things ought to be. Then they don’t turn out that way, and it is hard for us reconcile what God had done or should I say allowed to happen with the picture in our minds. In the spring of ’75, Gene challenged me to go to Africa that summer on a project with Campus Crusade for Christ. I prayed about it and felt that that was the direction that the Lord was leading. If I remember correctly, the cost was going to be around $1,700. That was a substantial sum for a college student in ’75. Gene challenged me to pray, ask the Lord, tell people of my need, and ask the Lord to lay it upon their hearts. If the Lord wanted me to go, He would raise the funds. I did, and I began the process. My pastor soon contacted me and politely and kindly asked me not to talk to anyone in the church about my trip. He said the church was in bad financial situation at the time and my fund raising would draw off needed resources. So, I ceased activity in what I thought would have been a major source of God’s provision. Gene suggested that I speak to another pastor in town, one which was financially well off. I did and the church decided to give $50.00. They were capable of doing much more, had they wanted to do more. This was not matching the picture in my mind of how things should go. Gene encouraged me to keep trusting the Lord and see what He would do. Funds slowly began coming in from many different sources. Some of them were quite surprising. But three days before the deadline when I had to mail in all of the money, I was still $500.00 short. I had contacted everyone I knew. It didn’t look too likely that it was going to happen. This wasn’t playing out like the picture in my mind. But Gene encouraged me to pray right up to the deadline and not give up. The night before I had to send my money in I received two phone calls. Both calls were from uncles, living in two different cities. Both uncles informed me that they had sent a gift for me to headquarters. The combined sums exceeded what I needed to go. I even had a little spending money. God supplied, but it wasn’t the picture I had in mind.
John the Baptist had much time to think sitting in Herod’s prison cell. He no longer had anyone to whom he could preach. Occasionally, Herod would bring him out of his cell to discuss theology with him. But it soon became apparent because of his hard stance on repentance as preparation for the Kingdom of God that he would never leave his cell. What’s more is that Jesus was doing nothing about it. This wasn’t playing out like the picture he had in his mind. Sure he had said, “He must increase and I must decrease!” But that really meant to him that Jesus would become the Righteous King who would usher in a righteous kingdom, while John retired to perhaps a more contemplative life in the desert. But Jesus had made no moves to build a kingdom, and John was permanently in jail. Definitely not the picture he had in mind. He had plenty of time in his jail cell to think discouraging thoughts.
There was a widow in the village of Nain. She had one son, now a young man. Not only were her emotional hopes tied up in the young man, but in her culture, much of her financial security would have found its provision in his successful economic endeavors. The young man died. First her husband died, then her only son. Definitely not the picture she had in mind. She was filled with discouraging thoughts as the funeral procession advanced out of town toward the tomb. When the Lord saw her, He had compassion. He raised the young man to life. There was joy in the camp!
John sent a message to Jesus, “Are you the Coming One, or do we look for another?” His discouragement had dropped to the point that he wondered if any of the picture that he had in his mind was correct. What was Jesus’ answer? “Tell John . . . the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” Yes, He is the Coming One. No, His actions do not always proceed like the pictures in our minds. The end result for the widow was that she received back her son. He would die another day. The end result for John was that he would remain in jail to eventually lose his head on a chopping block.
When we are discouraged, it is time to dwell on the glory of the Lord. He is the One who makes the blind see, the lame to walk, the lepers to be cleansed, the deaf to hear and raises the dead. Surely He will meet us in our circumstances. But remember when He meets us, He might raise the dead, or He might say, “My grace (glory) is sufficient for you.” We can ask, but He paints the picture. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John