John 12:27a
Have you ever been reading through the Word and your eyes get stuck on a verse like a flip-flop on parking lot gum? Bad analogy. But I was glued on the red letter words of Jesus and immediately thought, When my soul is troubled, I find all of the Psalms about deliverance. I begin to echo David's words as I climb up the alpine Rock that is higher than I (Ps.61:2). When my soul is hurt from others, I'm crying to You Lord, my tower of safety and refuge (Ps.18:2), to make them stop. When my soul is surrounded by dark shadows, I'm hanging tightly to Your hand anxiously wanting to get out of deaths valley (Ps.139:10, Ps.23:4). When my soul is troubled...when my soul is troubled...I don't like it.
So as I sipped my coffee and meditated on His desire NOT to be delivered, I was melted anew by His love. A love that embraced the suffering I'll never have to endure, rejection I'll never have to feel, and pain I'll never begin to experience. How grateful I am, the extent that Jesus would go to deliver my soul from eternal hell and all that came with the cross. My soul Deliverer... for all of eternity...I love it.
Then I read in Mark 3:9, "So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him." Our Jesus Who knew that His time had not yet come and walked through a crowd that wanted to throw Him off a cliff? Our Jesus Who knew the prophecies that He had yet to fulfill in His ministry? Yes, He's our relatable Jesus Who also had an angel sent to minister to Him after His warfare in the wilderness. And now it's significant for us that He has His disciples prepare a place He can go so the multitude doesn't crush Him. Did you get that? "Lest they should crush Him."
He understands when our "multitudes" of problems, trials, troubles, pains, fears, tears or sorrows can crush us. He sees our thoughts that scan the hillside of our days covered in obstacles and impossibilities without number. And when His plan for us is not to "get in the boat and row to the other side," away from the multitude, you can rest assured that He's provided a small boat of safety. It's a place where He waits to deliver you in SPITE of the multitude. A place that puts you at a safe distance from the dangerous possibilities of the multitude. Those who put their trust in Him will never be ashamed (Rom. 10:11, Ps. 34:5).
I stood up from the couch with visions in my thoughts of all the places and times God has provided a boat...and nearly did a double-take to see if the carpeting underneath me was actually wood.
So as I sipped my coffee and meditated on His desire NOT to be delivered, I was melted anew by His love. A love that embraced the suffering I'll never have to endure, rejection I'll never have to feel, and pain I'll never begin to experience. How grateful I am, the extent that Jesus would go to deliver my soul from eternal hell and all that came with the cross. My soul Deliverer... for all of eternity...I love it.
Then I read in Mark 3:9, "So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him." Our Jesus Who knew that His time had not yet come and walked through a crowd that wanted to throw Him off a cliff? Our Jesus Who knew the prophecies that He had yet to fulfill in His ministry? Yes, He's our relatable Jesus Who also had an angel sent to minister to Him after His warfare in the wilderness. And now it's significant for us that He has His disciples prepare a place He can go so the multitude doesn't crush Him. Did you get that? "Lest they should crush Him."
He understands when our "multitudes" of problems, trials, troubles, pains, fears, tears or sorrows can crush us. He sees our thoughts that scan the hillside of our days covered in obstacles and impossibilities without number. And when His plan for us is not to "get in the boat and row to the other side," away from the multitude, you can rest assured that He's provided a small boat of safety. It's a place where He waits to deliver you in SPITE of the multitude. A place that puts you at a safe distance from the dangerous possibilities of the multitude. Those who put their trust in Him will never be ashamed (Rom. 10:11, Ps. 34:5).
I stood up from the couch with visions in my thoughts of all the places and times God has provided a boat...and nearly did a double-take to see if the carpeting underneath me was actually wood.
