Day 19 - In trouble but without judgment
Scripture focus: "If you'll hold on to me for dear life," says God, "I'll get you out of any trouble. I'll give you the best of care if you'll only get to know and trust me. Call me and I'll answer, be at your side in bad times; I'll rescue you, then throw you a party. I'll give you a long life, give you a long drink of salvation!" Psalm 91:14-16 (The Message)
Our friend continues, "Well I wanted to let you know that the 'lame have walked' as I made it to church last Sunday, to a 12 step group on Thursday and I'm going to be turning up to both regularly from now on.... As I told you in my previous email, I seem to have understood the most of what you'd taught but still felt a blockage of fear or what I can only describe as a very strong reluctance or inner barrier. I tried to go to a local church a few times but couldn't make it and had some confused ideas about which kind of church and where I should go - I've even driven up outside the church, watched the folks pour in and then driven away too fearful to enter."
But don't the angels cry out, "Fear not?" Should we suggest to our friend that fear is an inappropriate emotional response? Frankly, if he lived on this side of the pond, we'd be more likely to throw him a party. Because what he's doing is calling out. And when men and women call out to God - we fully expect him to answer. We expect God to answer whether we've gotten our emotions all properly aligned or not. We expect God to be on our side whether we're performing well or not.
"Then, last Sunday morning when I came to do my usual dance with God he showed me Matthew 18:20 that says, 'For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.' And it hit me in a rush - if I wanted a 'dead rising,' 'lame walking' bang-transformation change then I needed to 'do a Zacchaeus' and just get myself in the way of the living Jesus - and he tipped me off that he literally hangs out where two, three or more come together in his name - suddenly it didn't seem to matter where I went or what kind of state I would be when I got there."
Hear his message:
- God raises the dead and transforms lives.
- God works in community.
- We need to get ourselves in the way of the living Jesus.
- It doesn't matter one wit to God what kind of state we are in when we get there.
God is not interested in our performing for him so that he can throw us some treats. He wants to raise the dead and transform lives. But in his thoroughly non-codependent ways, he waits for us to show him that we welcome relationship with him. And when we show our interest - however misguided, self-serving, and non-relational we are - he lifts up his robes and runs bare legged toward us. Very cool. What are we waiting for?
Recommended reading: Acts 10-12
- click on the word comments and join our conversation
Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community
No comments:
Post a Comment