"Today is calling to you, trying to get your attention, but you’re stuck on tomorrow, and today trickles away like water down a drain. You wake up the next morning and that today you wasted is gone forever. It’s now yesterday. Some of those moments may have had wonderful things in store for you , but now you’ll never know.”
― Jerry Spinelli
2 KINGS 4-5
10Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”11But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.
JOHN 4:1-30
19“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”21“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”25The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”26Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
JOURNAL
Expectations...oh how they mess us up. Naaman was sure he knew how the story would play out and so did the woman speaking with Jesus. So did the Pharisees and Religious leaders at the time as well. Yet God is constantly humbling anyone who thinks they know how things are "supposed to be". It seems to be the calling card of human nature and it serves to constantly frustrate every single one of us.
It is so simple yet so hard because I desperately want to know and prepare. Thinking on this further...so did Adam and Eve...they wanted all the answers, they didn't want to have to trust God. Even though God had fully provided for them, taking care of their every need...they still wanted more and wanted to have control...they wanted to know and that knowing caused them to lose everything.
What is sad is that this knowledge was a lie and it saddled them and us with a constant craving for something that we don't have, knowledge of the future. Truth is...no one knows how the story is going to play out. No one knows what God is going to do or really how he is going to do it. What we do know are his promises and that he promises that if we trust him and love him then he will do something amazing within us. He promises that he will give us his spirit and that spirit will change everything.
It is so simple yet so hard because I desperately want to know and prepare. Thinking on this further...so did Adam and Eve...they wanted all the answers, they didn't want to have to trust God. Even though God had fully provided for them, taking care of their every need...they still wanted more and wanted to have control...they wanted to know and that knowing caused them to lose everything.
What is sad is that this knowledge was a lie and it saddled them and us with a constant craving for something that we don't have, knowledge of the future. Truth is...no one knows how the story is going to play out. No one knows what God is going to do or really how he is going to do it. What we do know are his promises and that he promises that if we trust him and love him then he will do something amazing within us. He promises that he will give us his spirit and that spirit will change everything.
13Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
JOHN 4:13
No comments:
Post a Comment