Transitions
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God
and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a
towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’
feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
John 13:3-5 (NIV)
What captures my attention as strongly as the image of Jesus wrapping the towel around His waist and taking the basin in His hand is what Jesus does prior to that.
The image of the towel and basin is so strong to teach the power of servanthood—that the greatest among us is the one who serves. It’s a lesson in humility and service to God and to each other. The image of the towel and the basin is so powerful.
But to me, it is equally as strong to read that prior to that, Jesus took off His outer robe. I think that image teaches boldly the necessary transitions we all must accept in life. This is how we grow and mature. This is how we move to places of increased power and purpose and all things spiritual. It's how we focus on gifts, and honor the ministry, and live to respect the calling. It's how we get over hurts and grow past our pains. This is what we do when we make those very critical transitions in thought and action and attitude and duty.
It's not always difficult to pick up what God requires, but it's extremely difficult at times to take off what we have learned to wear so comfortably: the mindsets and patterns and self-identities, the things that are easy and protective and safe and reliable. To take those things off and pick up what will change the way we think about and do things, it can be extremely difficult.
What things in your life have you thought or believed or protected or relied on or practiced or settled into or become convinced that if you have to take it off, it will be too difficult for you? Are there things that you've grown comfortable enough in that you’d rather keep on the dysfunction than to take it off and chase the adventurous ride that comes with faith in Jesus Christ?
What has kept you covered and comfortable, that you will have to take off in order to feel reliant on a sovereign God? What has defined you so much that to even consider casting it off is scary, causing you angst and fear and doubt?
This passage is a reminder that all acceptance of the next requires a disrobing of sorts. Are you prepared to take off the robe of what’s comfortable in order to receive the role of servanthood God has planned for you next?
Feed Yourself the Word of God
When your words came, I ate them;
they were my joy and my heart’s delight,
for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty.
Jeremiah 15:16 (NIV)
If you anchor your life in meditation and contemplation of the God who has given you redemption and graced you with salvation, you don’t need anybody else to tell you that you have capabilities, capacities, and abilities. No. When you meditate on God, you get up from meditation feeling like you can leap over walls, living as more than a conqueror, anointed and gifted to get the job done, fully capable of doing all things through Christ who gives you strength. You feel like you live with the entire force of heaven behind you and a great cloud of witnesses who are cheering you on, like your faith makes all things possible and attainable and achievable.
Care enough about your life to feed it more than what will pass and fade away. The grass will wither, and the flowers will fade, but the Word of our God shall abide forever.
You know how a person cares for himself, what he thinks about himself, and what he feeds himself by what comes out of him—how he speaks about the things that are relevant and important to his life, what he thinks of others, and how he treats other people.
• It’s not about his accumulation—but is there any evidence of generosity?
• It’s not about what he criticizes—but does he live extending mercy and grace?
• It’s not about what he holds as a grudge, but can he forgive since he lives forgiven?
When we feed ourselves the Word of God, we stay sane in a crazy world. For many of us, the only thing that’s keeping us from going crazy as well is that we are seated in God’s presence and clothed in His righteousness, in perfect peace because our mind is stayed on Him. The only reason you don’t go off when somebody hurts your feelings, or respond by giving evil for evil, is because God has done inside renovation though the meditation on, memorization of, and practice of His Word.
Care enough about your spiritual health, and be aggressive enough to protect your graced place in life, that you feed yourself the Word of God.
A Little Does a Lot
He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.”
(Luke 17:6 NIV)
If you can trust God with just a small prayer, a small idea, a small sacrifice, He can turn it into something that has kingdom-size impact and blesses many. You may start with just a small desire…
• To get off of drugs.
• To get out of an abusive situation.
• To go back to school.
• To try and make a difficult call.
• To take one small step.
It doesn’t matter how seemingly insignificant that desire may be—you can trust God for the rest. He can make up the difference. He can cover the space. He can answer the prayer. And He can put His anointing on it.
This is what is required of you: to trust God so strong, so heavy, and so deep that you will testify, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength,” knowing in your heart that with men things are impossible, but with God all things are possible.
Those seemingly insignificant things can make significant impact, because if you give God something small, He can turn it around and make it something cataclysmically big. Little becomes much when you place it in the Master’s hands.
I’ve done that with my bills. I’ve done that with my dreams. I’ve done that with my faith. I’ve said, “God, all I have is a little. This is all I have to negotiate with.” And He said, “That’s all I need. All I need is faith the size of a mustard seed. Let Me prove it to you.”
Eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, and minds have not conceived what great things God has in store for you. Don’t you let go of that dream. Don’t you let go of that thought. Don’t you let go of that small little discipline. I don’t care if all you have is a tiny idea—you keep churning it and you keep praying about it. You keep offering it to the Lord and you keep making it your sacrifice unto Him.
I promise you that God can take that tiny bit and use it to prove to you that He can radically change your world.
It is through Jesus that we are empowered to do great things. So confess to Him that your belief is small. He will help your unbelief, because His grace is sufficient!
Stay in the Conversation
And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”
(Luke 7:19 NKJV)
John the Baptist was fully aware of who Jesus was. He grew up knowing it. He leaped in his mother’s womb when in the presence of Jesus. John’s ministry in the wilderness was preaching about Christ. He baptized Jesus and affirmed his belief with the announcement, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”
John knows who Jesus is, but John’s faith is no longer in the wilderness; now it’s in prison. He’s facing death and he knows it. Here in prison, his faith is being challenged. He tells one of his followers to go find Jesus and ask him, “Are You the One? Or should we look for another?”
Some people would say this is John giving over to the fragility of his faith. I don’t subscribe to that. He’s not losing faith. He’s growing faith. Why? Because he’s wrestling. He is questioning. He is fighting. He’s trying to figure it out. He’s screaming back at his doubts, “I know that Jesus is real, even though I’m stuck in prison. I know that Jesus is real even though I feel that my life is ebbing away from me.” John is essentially asking Jesus, “You’ve still got me, right?” This is not doubt. It’s mediating the conversation in one’s head and in one’s spirit.
Whatever else is going on in your life and in your mind, here’s my admonishment, my encouragement to you: stay in the conversation.
Don’t withdraw from the challenge. I don’t care how hard it gets. I don’t care how much your uncertainties are screaming at you. I don’t care if they’re winning the debate today as long as you wake up tomorrow and you bring your certainties back to the conversation again.
Whatever else, no matter how fragile you feel, no matter how weak, no matter how you seem to be in a losing position, at least make this one assertion: “Regardless of how strong my uncertainty is, I’m not leaving the conversation.”
The questions you are asking and the feelings you are nurturing, the ambiguity and the presence of pain, the self-doubt, the personal disappointment, the fear, the anger you’re trying to make sense of… all of these things are forcing a conversation that is necessary for your growth. So stay at it, because just by staying in the conversation, your faith will be deepened.
Meditate on the Word
"My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises.”
(Psalm 119:148 NIV)
You become what you muse over.
You are what you think, reflect, and meditate on.
That means you’ve got to let God’s Word speak louder into your life than anything or anybody else. God invites you to come inside, to meditate on His words, and to be impacted by that shift of thought. We are called to live from the inside out, and that means we have to change what we muse over. When I say “meditate,” what do I mean?
• I’m not talking about merely quieting your life down and being less busy, though that has value.
• I’m not suggesting a weekend without TV or cell phone, though that certainly couldn’t hurt.
• I’m not referring to a time away from human interaction, though that can also be worthwhile.
• And I don’t mean a day at home to stay in bed and rest, though you may need that as well.
I’m talking about coming inside your life to squeeze the words of God, like squeezing juice from a fruit, so that you can extract the robustness of what God has intended for you.
Meditation is not a duty, task, or chore. It is a joy—because any time you deeply reflect on God and His unfailing Word, you will hear and see and experience something that’s going to change your life forever.
You have to make yourself a priority enough to care about what you feed your own life. You may not be able to stop what other people shove in your direction, but you can certainly decide what you are going to feed yourself. All the noise and drama that floats around your life should push you to go inside and to be a good steward over what you feed your inner life.
If you want the best for your life, it necessitates that you feed your life the Word and the ways of God. As a result, when evil wants to root itself in your life, it’s going to have to deal with the presence of a sovereign God who brings all His power to bear on your spiritual wellbeing.
Care enough about your life to be intentional about what you’re feed yourself spiritually. Nourish your heart, mind, and soul with the Word of God.
