“You’re going to love it! You can do it! You’ll have so much fun! …yes, I promise I’ll catch you!” Trying to talk a three year old into jumping into the pool is a hysterical adventure. Explaining how and why jumping into the pool is so fun is almost impossible; they can’t seem to grasp it – fear outweighs reasoning, and they freeze up, stuck on the side, unwilling to jump. The begging, pleading, and bribing to get Matilda to jump into the pool the first few times was epic.
I see the faith-filled life that God calls me to
throughout His word. He invites me to abandon my excuses and fears, and
recklessly jump toward Him, trusting that He is faithful to all He has
promised.
Pastor Dirk shared the story from Luke 9:57-62 about
three of Jesus’ followers this week. They seemed to understand that Jesus was
the right guy to follow, and that the Kingdom was where they wanted to be. Yet,
they had excuses for why they couldn’t jump in and follow right this moment:
they feared losing social standing, influence, traditions or priorities. Mentally
they knew that following Jesus was the right choice, but they hesitated, waiting
like my child on the side of the pool, unable to fully trust the one who
invited them to jump.
My initial reaction to this story is to think “How
foolish they were, to miss dropping everything for Jesus.” But am I willing to
actually trust God? Or rather, do I trust His plan for salvation while making
excuses for why I rely on myself with the rest of my life? Do I really trust my
own strength and work most of the time, leaning into my faith only when I am wildly
outside of circumstances I can control? Is following God worth it for all of
life, or just for the end of life?
There’s an interesting story that illuminates this idea
tucked away in the book of Jeremiah. Through Jeremiah, God tells His people that
because they have turned away from trusting Him alone, Babylon will conquer
their land; but this discipline will turn their hearts back to Him. He gives Jeremiah words of hope: after seventy
years of living in Babylon, God will bring the people back to their land,
eventually healing their hearts with a new covenant.
Sandwiched in those comforting promises of restoration is
a story about Jeremiah’s life: he is in prison while Jerusalem is under siege
at the hand of Babylon, and God tells him that a relative is going to visit
him, and Jeremiah needs to buy a field from this relative. (see Jeremiah 32)
If I were Jeremiah, I would have some excuses about this
“buy a field while under siege and in jail” plan of God’s. Maybe I could wait
to buy the field until I get out of jail and things are a bit more stable. Or when
the Babylonians let up their attack a bit, maybe that would be a better time.
Or how about when we get back from exile in seventy years? Better yet, why
don’t you just go ask a relative who isn’t in jail??
But Jeremiah doesn’t make excuses. God tells him to buy a
field, so he buys the field.
God offered Jeremiah the opportunity to act on his faith.
If Jeremiah believed all the words that God had spoken, then buying the field
was a sound investment. Seventy years or so later, his family would
present the deed to that land and have a space for their sheep or figs or
whatever. If Jeremiah had not completely believed God, spending money for
property in an all-but-conquered land was wasteful at best, crazy at worst.
Jeremiah acted on his belief in God and His promises. He
believed that God was faithful and His word was true. So he gathered up his
shekels and bought a field.
God asked Jeremiah to put his money where his mouth was,
literally.
Our choice is so similar. All over Scripture, God makes
it clear that if we act on our faith, if we give up our excuses and dive
headfirst into whatever He might call us to, that we will know joy and fullness
in Him. We can cover our fear and small faith with excuses to hold back “for
now” – busy schedules and school and small children and debt and family
obligations and projects and health issues and moving and all of life. But when
our excuses win, we’re just standing on the deck, pretending it’s as good as
playing in the pool.
How do we change? How do we lean into our faith, like
Jeremiah, and jump into the deep end of trusting God? In Mark 9:24, a very
honest father calls to Jesus, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” And
we can pray the same way – ask the Spirit to work in our hearts and minds, to
change our desires and our habits, to increase our trust and belief in God for
all that He says He is.
Pray that God would make us want to follow Him with our
whole hearts, and desire His glory above our comfort and safety and control.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3
[Robin Bupp is married to Caleb, and they are from many places east of the Mississippi (but are calling Michigan home for the foreseeable future). A former high school science teacher, Robin is slowly turning the two Bupp kiddos into tiny nerds while they teach her lots of things, especially humility and patience.]
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