“But he said to them, ‘It is I; do not be afraid.’” – John 6:20

There was a lot going on in that moment on a dark and storm-tossed Sea of Galilee. It bears reflecting on, because it speaks to our moment…

The disciples were in a small boat, in the pitch dark of night, exhausted after hours of rowing, uncertain when their ordeal would ever end, and afraid for their lives. In the midst of all that, Jesus appears and says they don’t need to be afraid, because He’s now with them. As followers of Christ, He is always with us in the midst of every storm. The storm may hurt us. The storm may even claim our life. But we don’t need to be afraid in the storm, because Christ is with us. “It is I; do not be afraid.”

The disciples were in that boat in that storm because Jesus put them there. They were there in obedience to Him. Sometimes Jesus will put us into very difficult and frightening situations. He will call us to do exhausting and dangerous things and we must do them. But we don’t need to be afraid of them, because He’s there with us. “It is I; do not be afraid.”

The disciples were particularly afraid of Jesus in that moment, because He appeared in a completely unexpected way (walking on the water in the middle of the night). Jesus will act unexpectedly at times. As C.S. Lewis said of Aslan, the Christ-figure in the Chronicles of Narnia, He is not a tame lion. Despite our popular and pleasant images, Jesus is the sovereign king of the universe, not merely a buddy we get to direct as we please. His ways are not our ways. His wisdom and power go infinitely far beyond ours. He will do things we don’t understand, and He will ask us to do things that are difficult, confusing, and dangerous. He asks us to change in ways that feel deeply uncomfortable and even painful, ripping around who we thought we were so that we can become who we were created to be. We need to trust Him and His good will and plans for us, following His lead, making the needed changes, and living in obedience. “It is I; do not be afraid.”

“One gives freely, yet grows all the richer;
another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.”
– Proverbs 11:24

The Bible speaks a great deal about money and stuff. The message is consistent and clear: we don’t own our possessions, we manage them on behalf of God. God entrusts these material things to us to use for His purposes and glory.

Those who manage money and stuff well for God will be entrusted with greater responsibilities for Him, possibly including more money and stuff. Those whose idea of management is holding onto money, piling it up in ever larger piles will ultimately see their responsibility taken away by God.

Thus we begin to understand the seeming paradox of this proverb. Quite often, those who are most generous in deploying God’s money to care for and benefit others find themselves with greater riches, including money, blessings, and joy. By contrast, those who fail to use God’s money as He commands and for the benefit of people created in His image ultimately find themselves lacking in money, blessings, and joy.

For those afraid to be generous, particularly in the current financial climate, don’t be. Be faithful, not fearful. Be faithful to God’s leading in your life, manage God’s resources well for His kingdom rather than yours, and see what happens!

“The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’”” – Judges 7:2

Gideon was a nobody, chosen by God to rescue Israel from relentless foreign raiding parties. Gideon had no military background, but surely he knew he needed “more” to be successful: more soldiers, weapons, experience, and strategy. Instead, God intentionally sent him into battle with less – much less – so that Israel could never fool themselves into thinking they had saved themselves. God saved them, working through an anonymous man with the faith to believe that God would do more with less.

Too often we underestimate the God we serve. We often believe that to be successful we need “more” than we have: more people, more money, more knowledge, more ability, more experience, more plans, more certainty. Friends, we serve the God of more! He provides more than we can ever hope for or imagine. He is glorified in our “less” because then the world has no choice but to realize that He alone is our “more”.

As followers of Christ, rather than accumulating more, we should concentrate on actually exercising what we have: faith, obedience, and our relationship with God through Jesus. As we develop these, we gain the discernment, the confidence, and the wisdom to simply follow the Lord, even when we would prefer to have “more”. It’s then that’s the ordinary becomes an instrument of the extraordinary!

“Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!”
– Psalm 57:5

It’s significant that this verse of praise is found in the middle of verses lamenting difficult and dangerous personal circumstances. On the run, hiding in a cave, unjustly attacked by former friends, David pauses to look heaven-ward and praise God anyway. There’s enormous power in keeping our eyes focused on the glorious God we love, even during difficult seasons. As we continue to navigate a stressful time both personally and globally, let us remember to frequently lift our eyes to heaven and pray for God to be exalted in this situation. Let us pray for God’s glory to be revealed to all throughout the earth.

During times of crisis, we can reflexively focus on ourselves. It’s natural but it only worsens the situation by reinforcing our awareness of the difficulties. Our real strength, which not only sustains us but powers us forward into the future comes from keeping our eyes on the Lord who is sovereign over both sickness and health, chaos and calm. Make time to praise Him daily. Pray for His kingdom to come and His will to be done here on earth as it is in heaven!

“Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.” – John 4:35

All around us there are many searching for God’s kingdom. They know that this world is badly messed up and that there has to be something better, and they’re right! There are many looking for meaning and purpose to life, realizing that the shiny things of the world don’t provide that, and they’re right! There are many who instinctually long for the love of God because they sense they were made for it, and they’re right! We must have eyes to see them and the heart to share our hope in Jesus Christ with them.

God prepares this great harvest. He is the one who prepares souls to respond to the call of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. We simply must be willing to go out there and share that good news. All too often our eyes are looking down at the ground, concerned more with ourselves to avoid tripping as we walk through life. All too often our eyes are focused at the challenges immediately surrounding us. Our eyes can be focused too closely on personal problems, church problems, societal problems. Lift up your eyes! The fields are ready to harvest – let’s be faithful to go do the work God has prepared!