L“He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” (Matthew 28:6)
How shocked Jesus’ disciples must have felt to hear the news that His grave was empty! He had told them for the past three-and-a-half years to their faces that He would rise again. They knew the prophecies from old. Everything they had heard and seen should have prepared them for what was to happen, yet like us they let their eyes and feelings decide and think for them.
How often have you heard the Bible preached and listened intently to the gospel being preached yet find yourself shocked when it all comes true? How many times has God promised you something in your own personal life, yet you are totally unprepared when it happens just like He said it would? Just like the story of the evangelist who visited a small town to preach a revival. The town had suffered through a long dry spell and needed rain badly. The story goes that the minister prophesied there would be rain the following night. When the next evening’s service started, he looked around and noticed one young boy with an umbrella. His message that night changed on the spot from what he had prepared to a sermon on faith – using the boy as an example. If God has promised you success in some business venture have you prepared multiple bank accounts in order to receive the blessing? If He has promised you the salvation of your children and grandchildren, are you prepared for that first week after they accept Christ? What are you going to do to better equip them for their new lives? What scriptures do you plan to share with them those first critical days? Have you started preparing what you will do when the prodigal returns home or will you be caught totally off-guard?
The same can be said of our relationship with Jesus Christ. No doubt you have seen Him work in your life before. You have seen His miraculous provision in finances, perhaps, so when the next time comes along you go back to how He did it before. Maybe you have seen Jesus heal someone by being prayed for by a certain person. So when the next sick person presents themselves you immediately remember and take them to the same person to get the person healed in the same way. How about your beliefs? Have they matured along with you or do you still face adult-sized problems with a Sunday School or Vacation Bible School-sized understanding of God?
Our God is all-powerful and unbelievably creative. He is often described as dynamic – explosive, forceful, ever-changing (to us) yet always the same. The same Jesus Who told Peter to go fishing to obtain tax money for Himself and Peter may cause you to get the same financial assistance in a totally different way. The same Jesus Who merely spoke to some in order to heal them also took another man’s face in His hands and smeared mud on His eyes! The same God Who destroyed the world once by flood has already told us He will destroy it the next time by fire! God is awesome!
Today I don’t know what you are facing. You may be facing a family situation, a moral dilemma, heartache, fear, or whatever. You may have just lost a loved one. No matter what it is you are up against, understand that God has your back. Face your enemy full-on, wearing the armor of God, wielding the Sword of the Spirit, and God will cover you. He will dispatch His angels before and around you to both fight for you and protect you in the fight. Whatever that situation is, it didn’t take God by surprise. He has known about it all along and has already made provision for you to have the victory. I challenge you today, my friend, to stand firm in the Lord and in the power of His righteousness. In the words of the writer of the book to the Hebrews (Hebrews 12:12-13): “Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.” Be strong, my friend. God’s got this.
Be blessed.
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