Faith

Falling Asleep on Take-Off

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

I am not a big fan of flying though I have flown extensively. I like to joke that I can’t fall asleep even on long flights because the pilot may need my help. In fact travel of just about any kind tends to keep me on edge. I was so surprised when I accompanied my pastor Joliam Sampaio on an overseas mission’s trip to find out that he is so used to flying that sometimes he falls asleep before take-off!

In this passage he disciples were about to leave on a mission’s trip of their own. Their pastor; Jesus Christ decided that they needed to go across the sea of Galilee. Matthew’s gospel tells us that Jesus was the first into the boat and then worn out from a long day of ministering to the multitudes he fell asleep. While the boat they were traveling approached the halfway point of their journey a wild storm blew in. The waves sloshed over the sides and the wind tossed them around so violently that the experiences fishermen piloting the boat that night began to think they might be on their way to the bottom and yet Jesus slept on. I imagine the conversations among them went something like this;

“We need a miracle Peter and since you are the oldest; you wake Him up!” shouted Peter’s younger brother Andrew over the howling of the wind.

“No way Andy!” Peter replied. “Ask John. Jesus likes Him better.”

“Me!” John answered in surprise.. “Why do you always have me ask Him all the questions. It’s Phillip’s turn this time!”

Finally as terror set in with the worsening of the state of the ship they decided it to make it  joint effort, and the shouted in unison. “Master ! Wake up! Are you so sleepy that you aren’t even worried if we all die?!”

If this sounds anything like your situation today welcome to the club. Like me you may have the tendency to stay awake in case the pilot needs help. We may fret over details; so much that any holdup or unpleasant change in our plans makes us feel that everything if falling apart. Events that we were certain we were in charge of are suddenly spinning out of control and it seems like God is either unaware or unconcerned with our panic. But the good news is that we are still in the boat with Jesus. We have 24/7 access to Him and we don’t even need to wait for an emergency to ask for His help. He is simply waiting for us to call for His help. When the Lord is in our boat He guarantees us that we will get to the destination He has determined.  There is nothing that takes Him by surprise and no opposition that can prevent us from reaching the other shore.

 

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The Puzzle of Prayer

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments

Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God?  But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Genesis 50:19-20

While I was out on my Saturday morning walk, I stopped at a neighborhood yard-sale. Usually I try to avoid picking up other people’s junk (or treasure) but I was intrigued by a 1,000 piece puzzle that reminded me a bit of a Thomas Kincaid painting. After returning home with it, I carefully taped together a cardboard piece big enough so I could move the puzzle around and then excitedly dumped out the pieces. First I assembled

20190401_062321_Film4.jpgthe edges and then grouped the rest of the pieces by color. But as I worked I discovered that I had a serious problem. The puzzle pieces were not from the puzzle displayed on the box! 

 Joseph’s life must have seemed a lot like my puzzle. His dreams of greatness and success must have seemed far off during his years of slavery and jail. Have you ever felt that way? My own hopes and dreams; like the photo on the box-top are decidedly different from the jumble of the pieces of my life. Some days or even years it feels as if nothing fits together no matter how hard I try.

But rather than give up I determined to find out just what kind of picture I would see if I kept at it. So as I worked piece by piece I began to see a cottage very different from the one on the box and yet still breathtaking in its complexity and beauty.

That is how the Christian life is. Our puzzle box dilemma is not an accident. On the outside things are never as they appear. God has chosen for us to walk by faith just like Joseph. When we trust God no matter what we see; it frees us from the tyranny of  expectations; both our own and those of others. Faith frees us to forgive and then live in confidence that whatever the final picture looks like; it has been designed by God. As we trust Him to fit together the pieces we will little by little begin to see and a perfect reflection of His love for us all!

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A Tiny Seed

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.                   Luke 17:6 ESV

If you are a little like me, you probably find yourself sometimes praying “Lord please, give me more faith!” When we feel like we are drowning in a sea of fear and we try grasping at straws floating on the water’s surface. But our good news for today is that Jesus did not require us to have a large quantity of faith. In fact during His time on earth,

Jesus seemed to take special delight in people who struggled to believe. After watching the Lord multiply bread for five thousand men the disciples got worried when they ran out of bread in their boat. He sat and talked to a woman by a well who probably never darkened the doors of her synagogue. He healed a man’s son after the father confessed his unbelief and made a special appearance for Thomas when he refused to believe the others about the resurrection. Imported from phone 065

So on nights when it feels like you are going under for the third time remember that our Lord loves to walk out on the water in the middle of storms. He came for the widow, the orphan and the poor. Jesus is moved when we pray with even a tiny seed of faith. When we trust the heart of God we will discover that He is ready to move anything blocking our path and help our faith to flower no matter where we are planted!