John 14:1-4
Jesus said to his disciples, “Don’t be
worried! Have faith in God and have faith in me. There are many rooms in
my Father’s house. I wouldn’t tell you this, unless it was true. I am
going there to prepare a place for each of you. After I have done this, I
will come back and take you with me. Then we will be together. You know
the way to where I am going.”
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
Greg
and I planned to take the children to the movie theater after church
yesterday to see “The Jungle Book.” So on the way home, I told the kids
I would bake them a pizza. Timothy wanted a cheese sandwich instead.
Zola declared that she wanted pizza…and scrambled eggs. Nathan agreed
that he wanted eggs with his pizza, too. I made sandwiches for Greg and
me…so we had a full-service diner in operation. Two of the children
wanted chocolate milk – the third wanted juice. And all three of them
wanted ALL of this instantaneously. Nobody wanted to wait for the meal
to be prepared.
Now here’s the thing…the kids KNOW that it takes
time to bake a pizza – and even pour milk and juice. They KNOW that we
are not about to let them starve – or be deprived in any way. Still,
they tried to act like the world was falling apart because the food and
drink did not magically appear at that exact moment! They demonstrated a
total lack of faith in us to feed and care for them.
Now this
was not our first rodeo. We both knew that a lot of this “drama” was an
attempt to manipulate us…to see just how tightly they could wind us
up. So we tried to ignore many of their comments and just
“git-r-done.” But here’s where this applies to you and me…we all know
that God has promised to meet our every need. We all have been told
repeatedly – and read in scripture numerous times – that Jesus left His
Holy Spirit to guide and comfort us.
We have been given the
assurance that we who have confessed our sins to Jesus Christ and
surrendered our hearts to Him will be called to Heaven to live with Him
when we die…or He will return for us someday and take us home at that
time. Either way, we will be with Jesus for all Eternity! Yet many of
us live such lives of worry and despair. We operate in hopelessness –
and helplessness – at every turn. We act as if the world is falling
apart around us and everyone is doomed. We need visible, tangible
results of Jesus in our lives…and we need them NOW! In behaving this
way, we deny our Christian faith…and people are taking notice!
We
know better. And yes, some of us are simply being “drama queens” to
some degree. But a lot of us are just plain weak in the trust
department. We have not fully accepted Jesus as the Author and Finisher
of our faith. We do not fully operate in confidence that Jesus is
the Son of God – and He is not only preparing a room in His Heavenly
mansion for us…He is also meeting our needs every minute of the day here
on this earth.
When we make this mind shift and fully begin to
operate in Christian faith, everything about our life – and our
attitudes – will be different…and people will notice. When we “let go
and let God” have control…and trust Him to meet our every need…we are
filled with peace and confidence that defies explanation. The “food” is
coming…Jesus is preparing everything…and He totally has our back. We
can relax and spend our time doing the things that serve His Kingdom
rather than worry about what will happen next.
I am convinced
that this is a better way to operate…and I’m doing everything I can to
grow in faith and kick the Enemy and his little “worry game” to the
curb. My “Heavenly reservation” is made…I’m just waiting on Jesus to
get the room ready. I don’t want to spend the time I have left wringing
my hands and being frustrated and upset. Jesus has better things for me
to be doing…and I need to be busy accomplishing them. What about you?
©2016 Debbie Robus
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