For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare[a] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV
Faith can be like a jigsaw puzzle. If you are like me, there are some days when it feels like we are trying to put together a puzzle, which not only has no picture on the box, it also seems to be missing several pieces. We get depressed or angry, and wonder why everyone around us appears to be doing fine with their puzzles, while we are only able to piece together a few of the edge pieces. But our stressed-out attitude has the situation entirely backwards. God isn’t asking us to put together a 5,000-piece puzzle, because that isn’t our job. The reality is that we are God’s puzzle, and He sees the complete picture and is putting everything together perfectly according to His plan. We don’t need to see the picture on the box: He does! We aren’t missing any pieces, we are the missing piece, and our only job is to take the next step He is calling us to take. His call challenges us to either believe and trust Him, or to rely on and trust in what everybody else says. No one can take that step for us. We have to do it with our own faith. Obedience can be scary, dangerous and difficult, but it will be worth it all! Jesus is everything and the only thing we will ever need in every situation, in every place, and every single day! Faith asks the ultimate question: “Will I trust Him today with what He asks me to do!”
Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? Luke 1:34 KJV
Today, as we begin the second week of Lent, we need to remind ourselves that though the resurrection of Jesus was unexpected on our part it fit in perfectly with God’s plan. This morning, I want us to remember that the journey towards Easter, began in the humble village of Nazareth, with a young woman named Mary. She had just heard from an angel about God’s plans for her to have a child, though to her it just didn’t make any sense. How could that possibly be, since she was a virgin, and no virgin had ever given birth to a child? So, she asked a question that every believer in Jesus has asked ever since. “How shall this be?” “How will this be that an old broken-down man, a young homeless woman, a middle-aged inmate serving out His time for burglary, can be included in God’s grace. The surprising answer that Mary received 2,000 years ago, is the same good news that He has for each one of us today. God’s part is to work out His plans. Our part is only to believe. As we journey on towards Easter, God wants us to begin just as Mary did: not with a full understanding, but with a trusting step of faith.
And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. Luke 1:38 KJV
None of you should think only of his own affairs but should learn to see things from other people’s point of view. Let Christ himself be your example as to what your attitude should be.Philippians 2:4-5 J. B. Phillips NT
“He’s touching me dad! Our six-year-old suddenly yelled. Trying not to take my eyes off the road, I shouted back, “What’s going on?” “He was looking at me!” came the squealing retort from his younger brother, who was smirking, and my wife would roll her eyes, trying not to laugh. Just like that precious memory, most of us have discovered that being a part of a family means more than just giving flowers for Valentine’s Day or taking mom out to her favorite restaurant on Mother’s Day. Being a family includes, putting up with dad’s smelly feet, listening to big brother snore and having to tell someone we are sorry because said something we shouldn’t have (again!) Some days it feels like we are drowning in conflicts, and we decide it is easier to avoid going more than ankle deep into the water. Now today’s verse doesn’t offer us an escape from the ocean of relationships, but it does offers us three swimming lessons!
Photo by Helena Jankoviu010dovu00e1 Kovu00e1u010dovu00e1 on Pexels.com
Lesson one: stop thinking only about our own affairs. Stop telling God, “My brother (or sister) is touching me!” Start realizing that maybe that pesky sibling feels lonely and simply needs someone to pay attention. Maybe that older neighbor who is complaining about all the noise our kids are making, could use a plate of homemade cookies and someone to sit and have coffee with them. Maybe that store clerk with nineteen tattoos and a nose ring, could use a smile, a friendly word, or a moment of eye contact to tell them they have value to someone.
Lesson two: “Learn to see things from other people’s point of view.” Yes, that even includes, Republicans, Democrats, Communists, Muslims, and (you fill in the blank). Seeing things from their point of view doesn’t mean agreeing with their world view, it just means looking out through their living room window. Maybe while we a taking glance from where they sit, we will see ourselves, hear the words we have spoken and walk a little differently down their sidewalk tomorrow. Maybe we will stop shouting, “He was looking at me!” and start really looking at them the way God intended.
Lesson three: Let Christ’s attitude be our example. While Jesus was being whipped in front of Pilate, He didn’t shout, “Father, they are touching me!” While He was being stripped naked and nailed to the cross, He never once complained, “They are looking at me!” And as He died, Jesus didn’t smirk thinking, “They are really going to get in trouble now!” Instead, He cried out, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Jesus didn’t come to earth to get even with us, He came to make us family, and He gave His life to do so. For us to be members of His family we all need swimming lessons, and God in His grace is offering them to us for free!
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