Matthew 20:17-19 17 Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them,18 “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19 and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”
I recently received some less than stellar student achievement and climate survey results from school. In the past, this double whammy would have sent me into a tailspin of self-doubt and career worry. But surprisingly it did not. I have spent some time wondering why the change.
Two things come to mind. First, I have a much stonger faith in God than in years past. More and more, I am allowing Him to become my rock, my refuge. This I believe: If we are striving for obedience, working daily to please God, our Heavenly Father will not allow his children to come to ruin.
A second reason the two pieces of worrisome work news is not cause for emotional collapse is what I envision happened during Christ's three days in the grave. While I am sure there was much anguish, crying and grieving, I also imagine there was planning starting to take place as to what to do next. James, John and almost certainly Peter likely started some backroom discussions about "what now" and "where to go from here". I believe that at least a core of the disciples were starting to plan next steps.
Bad things happen in life, whether through choices we make or throught the choices of others. I think bad news can be debilitating if a person sits and ruminates on it.
The third chapter of Ecclesiastes reminds us that for all things there is a season. But this doesn't mean that we are to remain idle during those seasons. Pray, plan and act.
Nehemiah took on the task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. He prayed, planned and acted. Nehemiah recognized a problem and after a season of prayer, took the necessary steps, through a lot of adversity, to solve that problem.
If the waves become our focus, we will drown. If we keep our eyes on Jesus Christ, we can walk above the stormy seas. The seas may remain stormy, but we don't have to go under.
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