Belief… Does Not Come Easy

"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and He (God) will give you everything you need."

- Jesus, Luke 12:31

"Faith does not break loose in my head with a whooping, 'Hurrah for God!' Believing sneaks into my soul while my head is saying, 'My God, where were You when I needed You?'"

    - Dr. Lewis Smedes

One of the foundational principles I've learned to live by, that keeps me steady in the storms of life, is this:

When you don't know what God is doing...remember WHO GOD IS!

In C.S. Lewis' classic, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," Lucy is talking to Mr. Beaver about Aslan the Lion, who represents Christ.

    "Is He safe?" Lucy asks

    "Safe?!" Mr Beaver replies, "Oh No! He is Not Safe! But He is Good!"

When my first cousin, Jaime, was killed by a drunk driver at 19 years of age, I'll never forget standing beside her grave in a snow-covered cemetery and hearing her Dad, my Uncle Louie, whisper, in a voice cracking with emotion, "I don't understand it, but I know God is Good!"

If you're like me, you don't need help believing in God when you're healthy, when you're happy.

You don't need help worshipping God when you got a new job, a new ride, a new place, a new love in your life. I don't need your help when things are right; I need your help believing God when things go wrong! I need your help when I'm standing next to the graveside of someone I love in a snow-covered cemetery. Tell me then, how to trust God when He says, "No!"

In Luke 12:31, Jesus gives you and I an unbelievable promise. He says, if you and I love Him first, everything we need to experience life in all its fullness will be provided.

Really! You believe that? Because sometimes the expectations that promise creates have not been met in my life. As a new believer, when I put Jesus first, my life got way worse before it got better. Some of my friends did not like me following Jesus. Most of my bad habits did not go away quietly. A lot of my biggest prayers were not answered. And being nice, all the time, just didn't seem to cut it in my world.

What do you do when your expectations about Jesus don't line up with your experience?

Remember when Lazarus died? When Jesus arrived at the cemetery, Martha complained,

"Lord, if You had been here my brother would not have died!"

- John 11:21

Her expectations of Jesus did not line up with her experience. What happened? Jesus goes up to the tomb and delivers a three-word sermon, "Lazarus, Come Out!" (v.43). And out of that tomb came a dead man walking. Martha was expecting God to heal him when he was sick. But Jesus was like, “Why do I have to heal him, when I've got the power to raise him from the dead?!”

Listen…the situation you're complaining about today, you could be praising God for tomorrow.

It's not until you're sick, that you discover Jesus can heal. It's not until you're broke, that you discover Jesus can provide. It's not until you fail, that you discover Jesus can forgive. And it's not until you die, that you discover Jesus can raise the dead!

This Season of Lent, it can be a difficult path - it was for Jesus. It requires faith in who God is, simply because you and I cannot always see what He's doing. Remember: He's not always safe, but He's always good!

AMEN.

Pastor Harry

‍