“It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.”
2 KINGS 12-14
8One day Amaziah sent messengers with this challenge to Israel’s king Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz and grandson of Jehu: “Come and meet me in battle!”c9But King Jehoash of Israel replied to King Amaziah of Judah with this story: “Out in the Lebanon mountains, a thistle sent a message to a mighty cedar tree: ‘Give your daughter in marriage to my son.’ But just then a wild animal of Lebanon came by and stepped on the thistle, crushing it!10“You have indeed defeated Edom, and you are very proud of it. But be content with your victory and stay at home! Why stir up trouble that will only bring disaster on you and the people of Judah?”11But Amaziah refused to listen, so King Jehoash of Israel mobilized his army against King Amaziah of Judah. The two armies drew up their battle lines at Beth-shemesh in Judah. 12Judah was routed by the army of Israel, and its army scattered and fled for home. 13King Jehoash of Israel captured Judah’s king, Amaziah son of Joash and grandson of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh. Then he marched to Jerusalem, where he demolished 600 feetd of Jerusalem’s wall, from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. 14He carried off all the gold and silver and all the articles from the Temple of the LORD. He also seized the treasures from the royal palace, along with hostages, and then returned to Samaria.39“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! 40Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.41“Your approval means nothing to me, 42because I know you don’t have God’s love within you. 43For I have come to you in my Father’s name, and you have rejected me. Yet if others come in their own name, you gladly welcome them. 44No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don’t care about the honor that comes from the one who alone is God.e45“Yet it isn’t I who will accuse you before the Father. Moses will accuse you! Yes, Moses, in whom you put your hopes. 46If you really believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. 47But since you don’t believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”JOHN 5:25-47
JOURNAL
I can only imagine the tension here as Jesus rebukes the Jewish leaders. Yet I also imagine their own frustration as Jesus is completely different than what they imagined the Messiah would be. Their expectations were of a prim and proper political / military leader who would affirm them and overtake the Roman government. To believe in Jesus would have meant they had to let go of all their preconceived ideals. It was simply too much for them. Jesus was not what they imagined and therefore they rejected him.
Sounds pretty familiar...I tend to have expectations and hopes on pre-conceived notions of how things should go. Then when life doesn't fit those expectations I tend to believe that something is wrong. I shrink back and think that maybe a different direction, or a different tactic might improve the outcome and get things back on track.
Sounds pretty familiar...I tend to have expectations and hopes on pre-conceived notions of how things should go. Then when life doesn't fit those expectations I tend to believe that something is wrong. I shrink back and think that maybe a different direction, or a different tactic might improve the outcome and get things back on track.
Too often I don't consider that God is not wringing his hands in frustration...fretting about my path or my decisions, my success, my failure etc. God is God and he is completely at peace with where I am on the journey. Yet I find that far too often, I am not and that's a problem. For the more I sink into scripture and allow myself to truly trust God, the more comfortable and courageous I become.
This, I believe...is one of God's gifts. It is his spirit that compels me to push boundaries while also stopping to acknowledge the beauty and magnificence of today. It draws me to indulge in the hard and uncomfortable while also enjoying the simple pleasures of my outrageous blessings. It calls me to accept my limitations and humanity while also dreaming of the perfection of eternity.
In all things big and small I find that God is there...never worried or busy or fretting, just waiting patiently with arms open wide.
This, I believe...is one of God's gifts. It is his spirit that compels me to push boundaries while also stopping to acknowledge the beauty and magnificence of today. It draws me to indulge in the hard and uncomfortable while also enjoying the simple pleasures of my outrageous blessings. It calls me to accept my limitations and humanity while also dreaming of the perfection of eternity.
In all things big and small I find that God is there...never worried or busy or fretting, just waiting patiently with arms open wide.
34He mocks proud mockers, but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.
- PROVERBS 3:34
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