But they are only troublesome to the degree that I look at the problems, and I ignore the Savior.
More good news has been emerging for me and for others that I know, though.
Bad people who have done bad things are getting arrested.
Even though I was arrested and ultimately convicted of trumped up charges, all is well in my life.,
I trust that the Lord is putting this setback to my good.
All things work for good to those who love God, who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
The tragedy, the trauma which I had briefly endured was difficult for me after hearing the "Guilty" verdict from the court clerk following the jury's decision.
I had a feeling it was going to end up this way, since so much evidence was suppressed during the trial, and all of my witnesses were not permitted to testify.
It also did not help that the DA lied to the jury and went to great lengths to poison the jury about the activist group I worked with.
The deepest pain that I had faced after the guilty verdict was "God! Where are you? Why did you allow this to happen? What is going on?!"
Of course, it is essential to look past our failures, our fears, and even our future.
I have to trust that He is on the jjob. He has not let me down. He has not stopped giving me his gifts of righteousness or his abundance of grace (Romans 5:17).
No matter how bad things had become for Joseph, he had the promise and the vision that God had nothing but good things prepared for him:
"And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither. 2And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian." (Genesis 39:1-2)
I was having a hard itme trying to understand what was going on. I needed to have some sort of proof that God was on my side. With the trial, the conviction, the sentencing, and a lot of questions which still remained unanswered, I had no idea what to do.
I wanted to figure out in my mind what God was going to do, I wanted to believe that the outcome was going to be great.
Of course, that does not grant us peace. Even if we know where God is taking us, that does not quell our fears.
Consider this section in the Gospel of Mark:
"35And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side." (Mark 4:35)
Of course, lots of preachers will point out: See! Jesus declared to His disciples that they were going to pass over to the other side.
At the time, however, in the midst of a terrible storm, it's no surprise that the discples felt otherwise:
"37And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full." (Mark 4:37)
This was a bad time. This was dire. The storm was raging all around the disciples. The boat was filling up with water.
In the midst of this terrible storm. the disciples cried out to Jesus, who at the time was sound asleep!
38And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?"
You know, I have to laugh when I read this passage. If Jesus, the Teacher and Master, is sound asleep, don't you think that He has everything under control?
And yet the disciples did not believe that Jesus was in charge, that He was handling the situation.
I have often commented in this passage that the disciples made three mistakes, they did not believe the truth.
First, the called Jesus "Master". They saw Him as a teacher, as a Rabbi, a mentor, an example to follow, an individual who would impart to them knowledge. They saw Him as someone very much like them, in distress, yet unaware of the distress.
Two, they thought that He did not care about them. They actually believed that Jesus was not concerned about their well-being.
Remember, this is the same Jesus who went about healing and doing good for all who were sick and in need. This is the same Jesus who fed thousands with a few pieces of bread and small fish. This is the same Jesus would declared the Kingdom of God, who would become sin that all of us might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).
And yet, and sadly yet the disciples dared to reprimand Him, as if He did not care!
But of course, Jesus not only cared, He did something about the storm:
"And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm." (Mark 4:39)
Notice that Jesus didn't yell at the disciples, He didn't tell them to go away, He didn't shame them.
In spite of their lack of faith, in spite of their sheer ignorance, the hardness of their hearts to discern the gracious goodness of our Lord Jesus Christ, Jeusus answered their cry.
In fact, He over-answered. He didn't just care that they were in danger: He calmed the storm with one word. Not only did He calm the storm, but a "mega calm" took over.
Then Jesus chastised them:
"40And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?" (Mark 4:40)
They have no faith. They do not realize WHO is in the boat with them. They don't understand the safety and protection they already enjoy.
In fact, they exaggerated their circumstances. They were not perishing at all! They had no reason to worry. Their minds were racing into all kinds of scenarios, but not one of them came to pass.
Jesus arose, rebuked the wind, chided His disciples, then went back to sleep.
Of course, this verse has always stood out to be above all the others:
"41And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"" (Mark 4:41)
The disciples are still so floolish, so slow of heart to believe. They are in the presence and protection of God's own Son, God in the flesh, manifested before men to die on the Cross, to rise again, and to serve as our High Priest Forever before God the Father.
This same Jesus, "Savior" as His own name bears out, is in the boat with the fearful disciples. He answers their prayers, He comes through on the very promise He had made to them before they set sail.
"Come let us cross over to the other side."
They did.
Yet still they saw Jesus as "What manner of man is this?" He is more than a man. He is God incarnate, Christ Jesus the Savior of all, who has come down to us to Save, Heal, and Forgive!
Tonight as I write this post, I see that the turmoils that I am facing are nothing like what the disciples were facing. They feared certain death, since they shouted "Don't you care that we are dying?!"
And I am not even dying! There are so many strange, frightful scenarios that have played through my mind. But what I am thinking does not matter. What matters is He who has been from the beginning, that Christ Jesus is not just in the boat with me, but that He is my hope of glory, and that He lives in me TODAY! (Colossians 1:27)
The problem was not that they did not know where they were going--nor is it our problem, since Jesus firmly declared that He is "The Way, the Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6).
The problem is that we do not believe Him. The problem is that we trust so much in our flesh, that we think that we need to hurry, to help God get the job done.
He wants us to rest in Him and receive from Him, so that we can do for Him what He wants to do through us.
It's so simple, and yet our flesh clamors for control, clamors to know what is going to happen. We need to weaned of this dependence. We need to trust in His grace, take God at His Word, for "The righteous shall live by faith" (Habakkuk 2:4).
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