When something seems unbelievable

Luke 2:8-15

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

Imagine with me, if you will, being a shepherd, out keeping watch over your flock.  It’s night, likely very dark as you are not going to have street lights like we probably have in our neighborhoods today.  All of a sudden, an angel appears.  You’re terrified!  No worries, though, the angel tells you not to be afraid.  That makes it all better, right?  Goodness, no!  You’re probably still standing there scared to death! 

Then all of a sudden a great number of angels appear together.  I’m sure that sets you even more at peace, not really!  After being told of the birth of Jesus, which in itself probably seemed unbelievable, the angels are suddenly gone. 

Would you have been one to get excited and say, “Let’s go!”  I can imagine that they were curious to if this was really true yet at the same time, probably still very scared. 

There are times in our lives that the Lord sends us signs that sometimes see unbelievable.  Like Alice talked about yesterday with her journey to adopt her children, sometimes the path seems to be an odd way to get to a destination yet when you look back at it, you can completely see God at work. 

Today I want to encourage you to seek out what God has in store for you and trust him even when things seem unbelievable. 

Our Journey to Adoption, Part IV - Unique and Unexpected

We never dreamed we would be connected to our future children by shopping in a boutique shop downtown Saline, but that’s what happened!

My Mom met a friend for coffee and afterwards her friend wanted to look around in a shop across the street. They struck up a conversation with the store owner who started talking about her daughter (Brook). Brook had recently taken in a special needs baby, but had later been approached by another foster Mom to consider adopting two small children who needed a good home. The parental rights for the two small children were likely to be terminated soon. However, Brook wasn’t able to take them on, too. My Mom then chimed in and said that we were licensed to foster and gave the store owner my number!

My number passed through several hands before getting to the foster Mom, and it somehow got transposed in translation so she wasn’t able to reach me. God had her be persistent, though. She reached out to Brook again and Brook realized she knew my sister. So, she Facebook messaged my sister for our numbers and the foster Mom finally got through to Joe! We told the foster Mom we were very interested in meeting the children and scheduled our first meeting at a park in July of 2015!

Coincidence? I don’t think so. I think God had ordained the meeting a long time ago. What seemed like an unexpected and unusual encounter was part of God’s plan to accomplish His purposes!

In my Bible study this week, we studied Jesus’ unique and unexpected way of healing a blind man. It all happened the way it did so God would get the glory!

John 9:1-7    As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. ² His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³ “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴ As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵ While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” ⁶ After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. ⁷ “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

God does things today for the purpose of displaying His work. He displayed His glory in the unique and expected way we met James and Sarah!

How have you seen God work in unique and unexpected ways? How does that help you and me trust Him for the future?

Alice 

Listen And Learn

A Gentile woman who lived there came to him, pleading, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! For my daughter is possessed by a demon that torments her severely.”

But Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word. Then his disciples urged him to send her away. “Tell her to go away,” they said. “She is bothering us with all her begging.”

Then Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.”

But she came and worshiped him, pleading again, “Lord, help me!”

Jesus responded, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”

She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters’ table.”

“Dear woman,” Jesus said to her, “your faith is great. Your request is granted.” And her daughter was instantly healed.  Matthew 15:22-28

When I was a teenager, an early mentor of mine told me to always listen because you never when you might learn something.  It was also a necessity because my mother would have conference calls talking with colleagues from home, and I had to literally sit at times for almost an hour before I could actually speak to her.  I guess that’s where I got my sense of patience as well, and as strange as it seems, those two things would be invaluable attributes that help me to connect to people.  Why?  People want two things no matter if it is with a stranger or their spouse of over fifty years.  They want to be heard, and they want to feel valued.  To take time out to listen to someone serves that purpose because there is no more precious commodity than . . . time.  When we speak about solving problems, we cannot start unless we truly understand the issue.  What is wrong?  Why do you feel that way?  How can I help?  These are questions that we as Christians should be asking all of the time.  However when speaking to Millennials, it often feels like . . . well preaching.  When I have a conversation with my twelve year old daughter, I tend to preach first and ask second, and I need to get better at listening.   When we talk about the church being in a crisis with Millennials, we talk from a place of what we know, which is what our parents and our experiences taught us.  That’s not all bad.  However, we can’t solve this crisis preaching the Gospel first.  We can by sharing it, but we can’t share without first listening.

Jesus teaches us to listen and understand before acting.  The story of Gentile woman with great faith showed Jesus’ ability to turn listening into a teachable moment.  Here was a woman pleading with Jesus to heal her possessed daughter.  I read as the disciples urged Him to send her away, and how Jesus said nothing for a while.  Then, He said, “I was sent ONLY to help God’s lost sheep – the people of Israel.”  One might ask, “Why would Jesus exclude her just because she was not a Jew?”  This is part of the teaching because His audience was not just the Gentile woman.  It was His disciples.  When Jesus seemingly ends the discussion saying, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs,” we are almost left speechless.  This feels like our response to those who have chosen not to believe, right?  Why would we take time away from those who share our belief and spend it on you, the non-believer?  Then her response, “That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters’ table,” is the most amazing and dare I say ‘perfect’ response.  What could Jesus say?  He did not dismiss her saying, “I’m the Son of God, I do not need to hear this.”  She had acknowledged Jesus as Lord, ‘master,’ and her authority figure.  He listened, and acknowledged her faith.    If we acknowledge Jesus as God, He is all knowing, and thus, He knew the response was coming from the woman.  He wants us to see that all can come to Him no matter where they came from!  It was that teachable moment for the disciples that God is God to all who would acknowledge Him as Lord of their lives, but we cannot acknowledge others without first doing as Jesus did and listen.

Spreading the Good News of Jesus requires us to understand where people are first.  Our mission then becomes to share how God can help them where they are and not condemn them for where they are.  If we are to help those who choose not to believe, our response must be to first listen and hear their pain, frustrations, and concerns of where God fits in their life.  Only then can we truly share the Good News.  Do you know someone who has rejected the Gospel?  Have you taken time out to understand why?  My prayer and challenge is that we are willing to do what we Jesus knew all along; listen and learn.  Amen.