After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.
Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them. Mark 6:46-48 NIV
Have you ever wondered why Jesus let’s us get ourselves in a fix to begin with? Why do we find ourselves over and over in the middle of a sea of circumstances which we did not choose and wish we had never encountered? I know from the Bible that it is for my own good, but when I rowing hard in the middle of a pitch black night, I’m not liking a lot what He says is good for me!
But what I am learning is that in the middle of things that are deeper than I can understand and more powerful than I can control, Jesus is watching and Jesus is praying, and even better yet – Jesus is coming to meet us – just before dawn! When Jesus comes and gets in the boat, I am at rest – even if I still do not understand -and suddenly it becomes true in my complicated real life – that He comes just before the dawn!!
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV
Here is a song written by Bella Thompson, one of the residents at a nursing home where I visited last year before the virus hit. I pray that it will bless you as it has blessed me.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. Psalm 37:4 ESV
You need to know that I have never seen an angel, but I believe in them. Yet the entire concept of angels seems pretty strange to me. Why would an all powerful God who can command light into existence and who holds every atom in the universe together by the power of His word, want to use angels to do stuff? And yet, the Bible tells us that, God chooses to employ angels to take care of us.
When our kids were still in diapers and credit cards were only issued to folks who didn’t need them we struggled financially. Though we had enough to pay for our groceries, rent and the electric bill, by the end of the month, there was nothing left over. Each morning as I got the car, glanced at the front tires, which were daily growing balder, I breathed another prayer and put the key in the ignition. Every afternoon when I pulled back up into our parking spot, I racked my brain trying to figure how we could squeeze a few dollars together, then put it out of my mind, picked up my lunch box and trudged back up the stairs to our apartment.
Though we didn’t have much mullah, we did have plenty of friends. One of those was a confirmed bachelor named Bob and my wife insisted that we invite him over for dinner at least once a week. She worried that otherwise he would never eat a decent meal. Bob became like an uncle to our boys and they loved nothing better than running full speed and jumping onto his lap unexpectedly, then laughing hysterically as he let out a loud groan. Regularly, Bob would remind me about those tires, and regularly I would tell him that we would get to it next month. But whether it was an unexpected doctor’s visit or a new pair of shoes for our growing boys, it seemed “next month” never came.
All the time I worried about those bald tires I never once thought about praying for new ones. Not that I doubted God, but it simply never occurred to me to trouble the almighty with mundane issues like tread wear. He probably had important stuff to do like taking care of orphans in Africa or rescuing beggars in India. But one day I discovered that God isn’t too busy to notice even the tiniest problem we face while He is taking care of folks with bigger issues. He sends angels to camp out around us, to help in every struggle we face.
It was a Sunday morning and just as always we scrubbed up the boys and squeezed them into their church clothes then headed off for the 11 AM service. I put my worry about the tires into the back of my mind convinced I could only pray about life threatening issues. Yes I know I should have prayed but I am glad that our Father in Heaven doesn’t always do things according to formula. I have no idea what our pastor preached that morning, but engraved forever in my mind was the miracle of two brand new tires sitting at the top of our stairs on our return. Yes our angel that day actually was named Bob, but I’m pretty sure that he was enlisted into the service of the ones with wings. What was best of all was the astonishingly wonderful discovery that God knew and cared and sent angels to take care of every detail like stubbing our toe or getting a flat. God wanted me to know that whether He was washing my dirty feet, leaving tires on our stairs or dying on the cross for my sins, that He loves us all completely, in every detail and forever!
Two Tires On the Stairs by Peter Caligiuri copyright 2021 Use by permission only, all rights reserved.
And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” But He answered her not a word … Matthew 15:22-23a ESV
Did it ever feel as if God wasn’t paying any attention to you? That is undoubtedly exactly the feeling that the woman in today’s verse experienced. She cried. She begged. She fell to Jesus’ feet. But nothing she could do or say seemed to touch the Lord. Her story reminded me of the Bangladeshi people who come to work the gravel of the dry river banks in North India. They are rejected by most of the local people and forced to take the lowest and most menial jobs. Yet at the end of the story we find that not only did Jesus care but that He did answer her cry and in fact He had made this – His longest trip of His lifetime just for her .
But when it feels like Jesus is not listening and other believers tell us that it is no use, we have a decision to make. Will we continue to pray or will we give up? For all of us there comes that single moment when we have to decide what to do God’s silence. This woman who appeared to have no background, no friends and no hope leaves us with a testimony of hope, not only that God is listening but that He cares enough to hear and answer prayer! Think of it as if Jesus made His trip to earth, just for you, and keep on trusting till an answer comes!
Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. Matthew 15:28
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