What does your concern have to do with Me? John 2:4

Jesus asked His mother this question during the wedding at Cana when she told Him they had run out of wine.

At first glance, it’s no wonder Jesus seems to deflect Mary’s concern. The situation is not life-threatening. In the big picture, it’s not that big of a deal. I have some speculation about this story – total speculation, mind you – but I think this wedding was for one of Jesus’ sisters. I think she was marrying a boy in Cana and so Jesus, as the oldest son, was acting as the father of the bride. It was the bride’s family’s responsibility to provide the wine for the wedding feast. I believe, Mary, after spending her life enduring whispers and shame over the birth of her firstborn, is terribly afraid of another public humiliation and her statement, ‘they have no wine’ is actually asking Jesus not to put her through that. (Speculation)

So the question, ‘what does your concern have to do with Me?’ Shows several things about Mary:

1. She trusted that Jesus WAS concerned about small details

2. She trusted that He COULD do something about it

3. She trusted that He WOULD do something about it.

When we bring a list of concerns to Jesus, do we have the same trust? I know for myself, I often get hung up between #2 and #3. Lately God has been proving His willingness to act as He has stepped in and worked out several little things for us (like our tax refund getting deposited at just the right time).

A sure sign of not trusting Jesus in a situation is a failure to even bring it to Him. That’s a sure sign that we’ve determined He doesn’t care, He can’t help or He won’t. I think the answer to the question ‘what does your concern have to do with Me?’ is – ‘As much as we will allow it to concern Him.’

(Thanks for being patient while the posts are a little less frequent. I’m getting caught up on all our school stuff, so I hope to be back on schedule in the next week or two.)

Yesterday morning, our church had the privilege of baptizing four young men and women. Our church is kind of small-ish so any baptism is a big deal, but this one was extra special. One of the young men, Revel, was in a wheelchair. Our church baptizes by immersion, so Revel put himself in the hands of the pastor and two other men to get him down in the water, baptize him, and get him back out. It was a beautiful picture of the desire to follow Christ’s example no matter what. Then the other men stood in for the rest of us in the body of Christ, coming alongside Revel to help him accomplish what he believed Christ was calling him to. He said that he felt comfortable, felt welcome at our church. His new wife was baptized yesterday, too. It truly was a joy to watch.

I wish that was the end of the story. Because of the special activities, the order of service in morning worship was a little out of sync. We had to move pulpit out of the way. The screen had to be raised and lowered a couple of times. The little kids weren’t dismissed for children’s church. And the stand-in worship leader didn’t ask for prayer requests. Some folks were a little distressed by that. It seems some folks didn’t come to the worship service, they came to worship the service. See the difference?

So many times in the Old Testament, God said to Israel through His prophets that their empty, ritualistic worship made Him sick. (I’m paraphrasing.) Maybe that’s our problem- we prefer form over function. We like predictability over faith. We like safe, and ordinary. Maybe we need more of that desire to obey that Revel has, even if it means going someplace we can’t go on our own.

Jesus was never predictable, or ritualistic, or formal. He was accessible, He was passionate and He was intense.

Can I take just a minute and be a mommy? Thanks. Alan had his last baseball game last night, and it was a good one! He just about put one over the fence, definitely the longest hit of the year for him AND he caught a fly ball playing defense at the pitcher’s mound. (Not just any fly ball, but a fly hit by the best player on the other team- we know, he was on Alan’s team last year.) So woo hoo! Did I mention football camp is next week?

As God brings me along, driving the reality of His love and care for me deep into my heart, He highlighted a verse while I read Tuesday morning. 2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” God is on the alert, looking for ways, for opportunities to intervene on behalf of those who trust Him. Now I have to remember that MY definition of showing Himself strong and God’s definition may not always line up. That’s why it appears- to me- He’s abandoned me at times. I’m looking for Him in the wrong places.

I also have to be careful not to fall into the trap of believing I wasn’t loyal ‘enough’, and that’s why God didn’t intervene. God doesn’t operate that way. All the faith we have is a gift from Him who gives us ‘every spiritual blessing’ (Eph 1:3) God is not going to hold out on me. Faith is faith. I know Jesus talked about having faith like a mustard seed and so forth, but the point of that comparison is the God who moves mountains, not the measure of my faith. Focusing on the ’size’ of my faith can lead to an unresolvable mess- can I get two mountains moved for grape-sized faith?

This verse in 2 Chronicles is not about my loyal heart, but about the God who seeks to show Himself strong, to glorify Himself by doing something only He can do. When that happens, the situations in my life become an avenue of worship, a chance for God to be seen for who He is, in His glory and power. Really, that’s the whole point.

One of the most difficult seasons we can go through is when God is silent. It shakes me up, even if it’s only a few days. While I was at the beach, I presumed that would be the perfect time to hear from God, but by the second day, He wasn’t speaking. I was reading the last chapters of Isaiah, 40-66, with all those great passages, and I thought more than once that God was really missing a great opportunity. Surely, He had something to say…

I got tremendously frustrated, and began to suspect that my trip was a mistake. Every old reflexive fear and insecurity roared back. Did I make God angry somehow? Is that why He wasn’t speaking? Or maybe I was right after all, and that deep intimate relationship wasn’t possible.

The day before I left, as I sat on the beach, mentally reviewing the week, I remembered the prodigal. That’s when I heard from God. “I don’t want to overwhelm you,” He said. “That banquet is yours, but I want you to enjoy it to its fullest. I don’t want you to question whether you belong or not. We’re going to take this slowly so that when you know, you know, and you never question your place with Me again.”

God knows my frame and remembers that I am dust. The silent days… Just because I’m not getting constant reinforcement from my Father doesn’t mean His heart has changed. Not at all. He was doing a work that only He could do, in His wise way. It was a lesson in trust. The parting words He gave me were, “Hold on tightly to the things you know in your head, and I will make sure your heart understands them in time.”

I’ll keep you posted on how that’s going.

Today starts the second week of camp with the high school kids. We use the same lessons, but try a little more depth and a little more intensity (mess, that is) with the games.

We’ve discussed with the kids that they received superpowers as soon as they were saved, including the indwelling Holy Spirit to help them accomplish the mission God gives us to evangelize the world. We warned them that the Enemy has plenty of weapons of his own to hinder us, including anger. Another huge weapon- the one that works on me- is fear.

We don’t usually think of it this way, but fear is the absence of trust. When we don’t trust the quality of our studying, we are afraid to take a chemistry test. When we don’t trust physics and Boeing, we don’t get on airplanes. When we don’t trust people, we are afraid to invest ourselves in friendships and relationships. When we don’t trust God… nothing else works.

My gracious Father knows that fear is a major issue, so He talks about it a lot in the Bible. There are hundreds of references dealing with fear, worry, anxiety- all different heads of the same monster. Here are a few to implement:

(2 Tim 1:7 – KJV) For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Fear NEVER comes from God. He gives us a spirit of power (yes I can do what He gives me to do) a spirit of love (loving others is the key to carrying out the mission) and a sound mind (thinking clearly and truthfully about ourselves and our situation.)

(Psalm 118:6) The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

That’s IS. Present tense. Right now. Count on it. Not “I hope He’s with me”, or “He might be if…” If I get the IS part, the ” I will not be afraid” part is a piece of cake. And that’s GOD with me. What can a man do to frustrate the purposes of Almighty God? Nothing… (Why don’t I remember that?)

(1 John 4:18) There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

GOD IS PERFECT LOVE. He defines it. He loves me perfectly and so seeks only my best interest. Granted His definition of ‘my best interest’ and mine often clash, but that’s my lack of trust popping up again. His perfect love carries an eternal perspective that I can’t always see or wrap my mind around.

This is one of those lessons the teacher needs more than the students. God called me to go forth and conquer, not stay home and whimper.