Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Bible Study With The Bishops: Trust

Reading Plan Text for June 3: John 16:16-24

I'm with the Disciples here. I'm confused, uncertain, and sitting in the mysterious darkness. The not knowing and not understanding frustrates me. The potential loss of a friend scares me. The fact that Jesus holds all the cards and doesn't seem willing to share angers me. Just how the h-e-double-toothpicks does Jesus ALWAYS know what they're talking about? (Yeah, yeah, I know, fully human and fully divine, but for heaven's sake, you'd think he'd be more HUMAN sometimes!) And that birth analogy comes right out of left field.

It all comes down to change. We don't handle change very well, especially big change. And the impending change is one of the biggest these folks will ever know. Jesus promises new life with the change.

But promises count for nothing. Show me. If you can't give me what I need NOW, then it's time for me to move on. If you can't be open and above board, why should I trust you?

Now there's the crux of the whole matter: Trust. Do we really trust God? Do we really trust Jesus? We're constantly asking for more signs, more information, more, more, more. At what point do we simply accept what we've already been given? Where is our faith? When do we learn, "in our gut," so to speak, that God's time and God's ways are not our time and our ways?

Oh, God, "I believe; help my unbelief." (Mark 9:24)

Peace,
Jeffri

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