Great relationships require great faith. Experience teaches us this. We trust the boss to honour his commitment to pay us after we work, usually at month end. We stand before a minister and say “I do!” trusting that the person we love will love us in return - always. And God?
Jesus had just resurrected and days later the eleven Apostles stood with Him as He outlined His mission for them. We can agree that at this point, they didn't fully understand what was going on. They had just been through a very trying time having seen their Lord arrested and crucified. Now a resurrected Jesus gives His disciples instructions and maps out their mission in Matthew 28. But first, they must "wait in Jerusalem..." Then Jesus leaves! The disciples still have many unanswered questions. "He resurrected and now He’s going? What about the religious leaders? Won’t they kill us too?" "Exactly how far are ‘the ends of the earth’?” Perhaps He could have stayed a little longer?
From then on they had to believe that He was still with them. They had to trust that He would send the Holy Spirit He had spoken of. They certainly didn't understand how all this would work out, but they knew that they had to put their faith in a Jesus that had just disappeared into the clouds (Acts 1:9-10)
And what happened after that is history...a clear demonstration of how great and faithful our God is.
In times of uncertainty we can wish that Jesus is physically present to give direction. Yet He says that He is with us. Do we believe this? Great relationships require great faith. Trusting God, even when things are not so clear challenges our reasoning. Every time (which is every day) I find myself in situations where the outcome or the "how" is not clearly apparent. Somehow I have to cling to Gods promise in the middle of a storm. He has never let me down.
Jesus had just resurrected and days later the eleven Apostles stood with Him as He outlined His mission for them. We can agree that at this point, they didn't fully understand what was going on. They had just been through a very trying time having seen their Lord arrested and crucified. Now a resurrected Jesus gives His disciples instructions and maps out their mission in Matthew 28. But first, they must "wait in Jerusalem..." Then Jesus leaves! The disciples still have many unanswered questions. "He resurrected and now He’s going? What about the religious leaders? Won’t they kill us too?" "Exactly how far are ‘the ends of the earth’?” Perhaps He could have stayed a little longer?
From then on they had to believe that He was still with them. They had to trust that He would send the Holy Spirit He had spoken of. They certainly didn't understand how all this would work out, but they knew that they had to put their faith in a Jesus that had just disappeared into the clouds (Acts 1:9-10)
And what happened after that is history...a clear demonstration of how great and faithful our God is.
In times of uncertainty we can wish that Jesus is physically present to give direction. Yet He says that He is with us. Do we believe this? Great relationships require great faith. Trusting God, even when things are not so clear challenges our reasoning. Every time (which is every day) I find myself in situations where the outcome or the "how" is not clearly apparent. Somehow I have to cling to Gods promise in the middle of a storm. He has never let me down.