Tabernacle

Have you bought into the false expectation that mature Christians don’t doubt?  Somehow we get the wrong the impression that mature faith is perfect faith, free from any unbelief and anxiety at all.  But have you ever done anything perfectly this side of heaven?  The Gospel does not demand a faith that is perfect, but repentant.  Thank God He accepts our faulty faith, and helps our unbelief.

The cross is a strange symbol. It simultaneously represents death and life. We can’t have true life without it, but we must embrace its death to get the life it offers. The world tells us that true life can be found by shortcuts and indulging ourselves. Jesus contradicts the world and tells us the path to eternal life is by denying ourselves and taking the long road that goes through Golgotha and then on to eternal life.

Jesus can be tough to nail down. Once you think you’ve got Him figured out,

He surprises you. His grace surprises the guilty. His dignity surprises the downtrodden. His love surprises the lonely. His suffering surprises the privileged—especially when He calls us to suffer with Him. Jesus can’t be nailed down, not even to a cross. He is full of surprises, even rising from the dead and making us alive

with Him!

Life is full of questions. Some questions are lighthearted and others carry a significant amount of weight. Jesus liked to ask questions. He used questions to reveal truth. And He used questions to reveal the nature of our hearts. The questions that Jesus asks have the ability to change a person’s life because they lead us to Him.

What was it like for the blind man to be led by the hand by Jesus?  What was it like for him when Jesus laid His hands on his eyes to heal him?  And then to open his eyes and see the face of Jesus?  Jesus did for him what He does for all of us who follow Him—He leads us, restores us, and shows us the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

It is shocking to consider how many questions Jesus asked.  You would think that someone who is omniscient wouldn’t need to ask questions, right?  But there are times when a question can teach more than an explanation.  And there are even times when a bunch of questions in succession can reveal more than an answer.

Our lives seem to be defined by our wants, by what we lack, by what seems empty.  We imagine, “If only I had ______ [fill in the blank], then life would be full.”  We all struggle here.  Jesus came to give us life, abundant life.  Why do we seem to be missing out on fullness?

Why do we sigh?  We sigh when we miss our loved ones.  We sigh when we feel sick.  We sigh when we face failure.  Basically, we sigh because the world is crooked.  Did you know that Jesus sighed too?  He sighs with us, but He also promises us that one day, the Day when He straightens all that is crooked in the world (and in us), we will sigh no more.

All of us experience moments in our lives when everything seems against us and God seems distant to us. Why does a loving and good God allow us to experience these valleys in life? When we face a difficult medical diagnosis or the pain of a broken relationship, we wonder if God actually cares about us or if He is simply powerless to help. God is good. He is all-powerful. And He loves us more than we can comprehend. It is in the depths of our pain, sorrow, and struggles when we understand the depth of our need for Him.