Lessons from the Gospel of John (4)

So, like I said before, we are going through the Gospel of John in our Transit Home Group meetings. We started about 4 months ago and well alas, we are still in chapter 4! I'm still amazed by how much we are able to pull out and discover each week that I have never really noticed before.

I am more aware than ever of how LIFE giving the Word of God really is!

We opened last night with a time of worship and these lyrics spoke to me so deeply.

"Jesus YOU are the difference in my life, the joy that I can't hide.

Savior I'll show the world what YOU have done, You're all that I've become.

I'm not the same."

I'd heard the song before but for some reason last night it just really resonated with me. I LOVE WHEN THAT HAPPENS! I thoroughly enjoy when God speaks to me through music and/or lyrics...it's a personal favorite. 

Anyways. John....ha ha

So we were finishing up John 4 last night which is the story of Jesus healing the royal official's son.  (John 4:43-54)

Here are some pretty cool things I took away from this passage. 

#1 This man was a ROYAL official. This means that he was not in the business of going to people much less important than himself. He very easily could have demanded that Jesus come to where he was. But instead, in his desperation and with a glimmer of hope he laid down all of his pride to go to where Jesus was. Wow.

#2 We were discussing if the emotion this man was feeling was desperation or hope...when someone made a great point. Hope comes out of desperation. This man had no other options. His son was going to die. So, based on the little word of mouth traveling around the area he traveled nearly 20 miles on foot to where Jesus was. Jesus was not the HUGE success story back then that we know him to be today. He hadn't even gotten very far into his ministry at this point and so this man did not make this journey with the guarantee that his son would be healed. BUT, he was so desperate that he would try ANYTHING, even leave his son to get to even the chance that he might be saved. And out of his desperation sprung this seed of hope that maybe, just maybe this Jesus guy was who he claimed to be and could actually do all that people said he could.

#3 It was at this point that I started to apply this situation to my own life. This man was willing to put all of his trust in Jesus and to go all the way to where he was because he had that much hope in who Jesus was and what he could do. WOW

I think about my own life. If one of the kiddos I were to nanny got hurt or was choking, the first thing that I would do is call an ambulance. I would put my trust in men...and then if I thought about it I would pray...how insanely ridiculous! I have an entire book of evidence showing me that Jesus is indeed who he said he was and that he can do all that he said he could and MORE not to mention a lifetime of personal encounters with him...and I don't have to go anywhere but to my knees...but still, would I? Would I lay down all of my pride and place ALL of my trust in Jesus. Do I hope and trust and BELIEVE in him that much? Things to think about...

So, then Pastor Anthony asked us to spend some time reflecting on this. This man came to Jesus already believing that he could heal his son...but when Jesus DID actually heal his son, he believed in him on a whole new level. Anthony asked us to think about what it would take from God for us to believe in him on THAT level and challenged us to ask God for whatever that was.

So I thought about it.

I am pretty sure that I have never doubted the existence or power of God. I have always known it in such a real way in my own life. However, I have doubted some characteristics of God. I know that God can heal, but I have never seen him work that way personally in my own life, and so therefore I am not sure how deeply I believe it.

But last night, I asked God to show me what it meant for him to carry me. I know I say that prayer all the time and I ask for his strength, but the cry of my heart last night was to actually feel him carrying me. In my weakest most empty moments.

And as usual, He NEVER fails to hear and answer me. Today he showed me...and is continuing to show me that he won't ever give me more than I can handle and when he gives me right up to the limit of what I can handle...he will be right there with me.

This morning I got to start work an hour later than usual and I was scheduled to get off an hour earlier than usual (although that did NOT happen ha ha) and he even put the sunshine in the sky so that we didn't have to be stuck in the house all day and we were able to get out and take a nice refreshing walk. The day didn't turn out quite as wonderful as I was hoping...I got off an hour and 1/2 late and I missed my zumba class and left my phone in my boss' car, BUT I know that HE knows better than I do and so I am taking a few deep breaths and blogging about it.

Anyways. That's what I have been pondering this Wednesday afternoon, hopefully you can have something to think about now too!