One thing I forgot to do in my last post was to apply the teaching. I almost never do that. I am all about taking what you learn and being specific about how the teaching should change you. If it doesn’t change you in some way, I believe we’re missing something.
So, here goes. Jesus was not freaked out about being separated from His parents. They were having a cow, but He was not. That seems kind of odd in some way because He was, after all, just 12 years old. His parents didn’t get to Him until after 3 nights so you would think He had to have spent those alone with no shelter. (Do you think He might have tried to sleep in a stable just for old times sake?) Anyway, I think most 12 year olds would at least get a little nervous at that situation. Not Jesus.
Like I said in the previous post. Jesus was confident. I believe He didn’t think of Himself as lost. He knew where He was and He was doing what His heavenly Father wanted Him to be doing. Others around him could be getting all in a wad but He was not going to go there.
In fact, that makes me remember a couple of other instances where this type of thing happened. The first is the story of Lazarus in John 11:1-44. Mary and Martha were upset because Jesus wasn’t where they wanted Him to be. Jesus didn’t wasn’t drawn into their stress. He was connected to the Father and He knew the bigger picture. It allowed Him to be calm inside while the outside world was chaotic.
The other instance that I’m reminded of is in Luke 4:42-44. Jesus went to connect with the Father. He has His marching orders. The people want Him to stay with them. He says that He needs to go and preach. Again, people were wondering where He was, wanting Him to be where they wanted Him to be. Jesus wouldn’t have it. He knew what He was supposed to be doing and was resolute.
How often are we this resolute? How often do we have our security so deep in what our Father wants us to do that when people are freaking out around us wanting us to be where they want us to be or doing what they want us to be doing that we can just calmly cast them aside? I, unfortunately don’t feel like I live that way the majority of the time. There are hours or even days when this is true but stringing them together is the trick.
I really want this because the serenity and confidence is highly appealing to me as opposed to insecurity and stress. It seems so counter-cultural to our “gotta be there now!” kind of world. So, here’s the question for you…
How do we get it?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Todd,
As you may have picked up about me, I am a planner. I need to know that the journey I am on connects in a logical organized way (A to B to C to D….you get the point). So, I am super aware of those moments when the Lord has clearly made his journey for me apparent and it doesn’t follow my logical steps (A to D to Z to L). The most recent time I experienced this was when Hal and I made the decision to leave Greenville and move here. At the time of that decision we just knew that the Lord was calling us out to be separate from all the things that made us comfortable (living near our families, consistent jobs, same church, same friends). We didn’t have jobs lined up yet or anything prepared. Our families were concerned, I was concerned, but we were convinced that we were supposed to be here. “Come out from among them and be separate” (2 Cor 6) stuck in our heads for weeks. During the past year we were still at a loss for what the Lord wanted us to do here, but we knew we had a purpose here so we stuck it out. We’re just now figuring out what the Lord has for us here. Resoluteness does not come naturally, particularly when it doesn’t fit my logical step-by-step processes. But I would like to come into a place where I could claim something in such confidence and walk that out…unfortunately, doubt is my nemesis.
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I have been on this journey now for over 28 years. I have learned that when I listen and follow, things work out His way. When I choose to go my way, there are problems. When the Lord has a plan, and it is His plan, we must be willing to let go of our fears and have faith in Him. As God leads us, this faith grows into trust and we can then take deeper risks of faith. Everytime I follow him through the doors He opens, I have not been disappointed, but highly blessed. Every time I pushed a door open on my own, the dissapointment led to anger and resentment, hence I have learned to listen to the Holy Spirit and His urgings and follow His way.
I can tell you this, His plan has been a whole lot different than my plan, but I know my way led to failure and His plan has led me to where I am today and I am amzingly grateful.
A song written by a friend says this
” I’m in His Hands, I’m in His Hands,
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Seems like some of the most peaceful times in my heart are when going through a trial. I feel like a scared little kid sometimes. When I don’t know what to do, I run to God. He shows himself faithful every time. My challenge lies in the everyday battles. I can get so focused on my own To-Do list that I veer off course and don’t recognize that the Lord has a plan even in the seemingly tedious seasons of life. I think it is key for me to stay in the Word, stay in community with other believers, and listen (to God) before acting on my own.
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this for sure has helped over the past couple of years: to recognize and resist the “tyranny of the urgent” (not sure who coined that phrase). something that is of immediate importance to someone else does not necessarily make it so for me. i guess this is under the larger umbrella of cultivating the ability to say no.
i also have found that taking incremental steps in a direction that God seems to be nudging me serves well. and, as each of those steps is taken, i can gauge the “resistance”: did this step seem to come readily or only by my forcing? i also believe the witness of the Spirit will help me – if i am attentive – determine whether the initial nudge i felt indeed was good listening, or if i need to ask again.
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Pat Merrell Reply:
September 13th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
I really agree with you John – I see the patterns of my life in your comment. Right now I am in a “no” phase of clearing out everything that does not prove to be of the spirit.
It is easy now for me to let the “tyranny of the urgent” pass – if I miss something God has for me he has been faithful to give me a second chance. If he needs it done and I miss it he will have someone else do it if it suits his purposes.
I feel so blessed to just be in his presence at all times and feel the fullness of his being in control.
For Todd I pray that his journey will lead him to the trusting faith that will comfort him again but I am enjoying his time of questioning because I know that is what leads to the biggest jumps of confidence in the truth of the fullness of God’s availability to us. Many people God has for Todd to be an important influence on are never going to trust him if he has not questioned the truth in his own walk.
Only by seeking in faith will he find.
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