Coffee With The Lord

Sooner or later it will happen to us all… God’s word will say something we don’t understand… Or the Lord will require something of us that offends our sensibilities… Or something will happen to us – something God allows – that we will have a terrible time processing!  And the issue will be, how are we going to respond – what are we going to do about it?  Will we continue to trust, follow, and love the Lord, or will we be offended, “abandon ship,” and drift away in disappointment, disillusionment…even anger?

It happened to some who had begun following Jesus in the New Testament – the fact is, some of the “apostles” were even at risk! 

Jesus had said some perplexing things – some things that challenged the sensibilities of His followers – some things they found it difficult to process… Here’s the account of it in the Bible: 

“When many of His disciples heard it, they said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’ But Jesus, knowing in Himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, ‘Do you take offense at this?  Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life!  But there are some of you who do not believe… This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.’  After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.  So Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well?’  Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God!’”(John 6:60–69 ESV)

Listen, I am certain that somewhere, sometime, something will happen, something will come my way in my walk with the Lord that I don’t understand, something I find difficult to process, something that even offends me.  What will I do in that situation and circumstance?  Will I allow what happens to become an insurmountable barrier to my trust in the Lord?  Will I in disillusionment draw back, distance myself from the Lord and cease to follow Him in faith and love?  Oh, I pray I won’t!  Instead, may my response echo and mirror that of Peter, “Lord, to whom shall I go!  You are the One who has the words that lead to eternal life!  I have believed, and have come to know [regardless of what life brings – or what God may allow] that you are the Holy One of God!”

During “coffee with the Lord” today I was very impressed with the voice, the call, the invitation of “wisdom” (I was reading Proverbs 8 at the time, but the theme is not limited to that chapter – it is scattered all the way and repeatedly throughout Proverbs 1-9).

I want to hear wisdom’s voice above the rabble of all the other voices in our world! I want my ear tuned and attentive to her.  I want to discern her sweet tone and wholesome message among all of the other  competing voices!  It is an invitation to truth, insight, righteousness, purity, wholeness, blessing, and “Shalom” (peace and security)!  It is a call to reject deception, temptation, self-will, sin and rebellion.

It is not a loud, strident voice (“the woman, ‘Folly,’ is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing” – vs. 13) – Wisdom is rather a quiet, persistent voice, in all the distracting noise and competing voices of life.  She is however, discernable – but you do have to listen for her!

Proverbs 8 reminds me of  James 3:14-18 in the New Testament: “If you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere!”

I’m listening for “Wisdom’s” voice this morning!  I’ll be listening tomorrow too… and the next day, and the next, and the next, and…

Ever have a nightmare?  They’re usually really scary stuff – and they seem so real!  Sometimes you wake up in a cold sweat and have to take a little time and calm down!  As a child I had a few nightmares that made me sleep with my head under the covers for “protection.”  Moms and dads of small children have often had to respond to screams in the middle of the night and give a lot of loving comfort.

Nightmares rarely turn out positive! …  But there’s one “dream-vision” (a “nightmare”) that Daniel had recorded in Daniel 7 in the Bible that did turn out positive!  After seeing four absolutely frightening beasts in his dream-vision, representing four different world empires with some vicious and oppressive dictators, Daniel saw something else – something wonderful, something positive, something filled with hope…

“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man [a clear prophetic reference to the “Son of Man, Jesus Christ, the Messiah].  And He came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.  And to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed!”

Gotta tell you, I am grateful that Daniel’s “nightmare” ended that way!  Worldly kings and kingdoms will come and go before Jesus returns.  Some of them will be oppressive, evil and frightening.  Prophecy indicates things in our world will get a lot worse before things get better!  The Bible predicts a frightening future in many ways… But there is another king and kingdom to come – God’s kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven… Listen, I’ll take a “nightmare” (in this case a prophetic reality) that ends that way any day!