Above The Noise

"A total of 5000 men and their families were fed."

- St.Mark, Mark 6:44 (NLT)

"The most amazing thing about Jesus is that He showed up in disorder and imperfection...

and told us that's where we would find God."

- Richard Rohr

More often than not, these days I'm finding myself or someone I love, in over our heads, in a situation that's clearly beyond us.

It's a condition or a crisis that's maxed out our resources and our capacities and we are clearly over-matched:

• a parent who can do nothing more to help a child in distress…
• a husband who can do nothing more than sit next to his wife's hospital bed and pray…
• a friend who has done everything they can do to make ends meet and it's just not happening…
• a daughter of an aging parent who has done everything she can do to make Mom comfortable and it's not working...

Question: What do you do when there's nothing more you can do to fix the situation?

Answer: You give what you have left to Jesus!

Do you remember, in Mark 6, when the large crowds following Jesus had wandered so far from their homes that they suddenly found themselves out in the middle of nowhere… with nothing to eat? Jesus looked at the 12 and said, "Give them something to eat." And they were like, "You're kidding, right?! We cannot fix this problem!" "Jesus," they complained, "even if we had enough money to buy the food… which we don't… there's no food available anywhere to feed these people! All we have scrounged up are these five loaves and two fish."

Mark 6:41-44 says,

Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up to heaven, and blessed them.... A total of 5000 men and their families were fed.

- Mark 6:41-44 (NLT)

Because the twelve gave what they had left to Jesus!

I remember the first Easter we celebrated in this church.

It was at a school in Carmel Mtn Ranch. We had worked so hard to create an inviting atmosphere: people set up chairs, classrooms, Easter lilies, playground equipment, sound equipment, donuts and coffee. We sent out invitations to 35,000 people. The choir and band had rehearsed their robes off and I had spent blood, sweat, and tears to create a compelling message on the power of the Resurrection in you and in me. We had done everything we could do to draw people to Jesus on Easter Sunday. And then… in the middle of the service… just as I started my message… the fire alarm went off and we could not shut it off. It was horrible! The noise from that alarm was so loud you could not hear yourself think! I did not know what to do! There was nothing I could do! I stopped teaching… looked at the crowd… smiled… threw up my hands and was about to walk off the stage when an usher ran up to me and yelled, "Don't stop, Harry! Keep teaching. We can hear Jesus above the noise!"

So I did… and two things happened: 1) I lost my hearing (smile), and 2) The church grew! Because we gave the only thing we had left!

Listen… If today, you're overwhelmed by a situation in your life, or in the life of someone you love, and you're thinking: "There's nothing more I can do!" You are wrong!

• You can pray!
• You can encourage!
• You can remind the one who hurts...

             ... Jesus is with you!

             ... Jesus understands you!

             ... Jesus will help you!

             ... Jesus loves you!

• You can stay the course!
• You can refuse to give up!
• You can give what you have left to Jesus!

And even though it may seem like the noise is winning -- when the smoke clears -- you will see what Jesus has done for you and the one you love… what you could not have done! So… live Above the Noise!

AMEN

Pastor Harry

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