Tightropes and a mini version of God

Jean Francois Gravelot, The Great Blondin, is a man known for his amazing experiences crossing on a tightrope over Niagara Falls successfully. Each time he crossed he would tried something new.

On June 30, 1859, he stood in front of more than 100.000 people while he did another attempt. This time, he asked if they believe he could cross it blindfolded. The crowd said "we believe". As they watched, Blondin did a round trip blindfolded. He then asked if they believe he could do it pushing a wheelbarrow. They said "we believe". Blondin again did a roundtrip without a mishap. For their delight, Blondin decided to do one more: "do you believe I can cross pushing a wheelbarrow with a man inside?". They shouted excited "we believe", "we believe". Then Blondin asked: "thank you for believing in me. Now who wants to get inside the wheelbarrow?"

Silence... not one person in the huge crowd volunteered.

I've been think about the topic of trust recently, and let me tell you, it isn't easy to trust someone. Even when this someone is God, the Creator of Heavens and Earth. We say we believe him, but do we?

We reduce His demands and choose the ones we want to follow, in our own way. "He will not be that mad with us, will He? I'm just a human".

We lower His standards, so we can live by them, and we say we're doing just fine. Of course "he will forgive us", or "I'm a great sinner, what can I do?"

We diminish His love and accommodate our fears into a god that is powerful, but is not coming out of his way to deliver us. "I won't try this, cause I can do that. God wouldn't give me some task I can't do by myself".

We decrease our expectations on Him, thinking He may fail us. "He has more important things to do".

We cut down His power and decide He doesn't need to heal our friend with cancer, to deliver our friend from a hard job situation, to provide us with more than what we need. And we say "if it is your will, Lord", even thou He said his will for us is one of overflowing blessings!

And as we did with computers, and phones, and music players and even clothes, we created a mini version of God, one that is easier to carry, to share, to live with.

I'm not saying that we don't believe He is capable, but most of the time, we don't act as we believe.

Oh that we would see Him clearly. Oh that our hearts would yearn for Him in His fulness. Oh that we would be less proud of our human condition, less stubborn about our plans and live more as empty pages for Him to write on.

But no. We want to simplify Him, to shrink Him to a size that fits our fears and expectations, that adapt our sinful nature and desires. We, then, believe this version - the one whose greatness and mightiness doesn't apply to us. 

How fool and dumb we are! We say we trust Him, but as the spectators of Blondin, we see him doing amazing things, but wouldn't surrender our lives to him, we believe, but we don't. We prefer to believe in a not-so-godly god, that looks like God, but exists only in our limited minds. 

Isn't God Elohim, the Creator of Heavens and Earth? El Roi, the Living One Who Sees Us?

Jehovah Shammah, the Omnipresent One? Jehovah Tsideknu, Our Righteouness? Jehovah Rohi, Our Shepherd? El-Elyon, King of Kings? Jehovah Maccaddeshem, the One Who Sanctifies Us? 

Jehovah Rapha, Our Healer? Jehovah Jireh, Our Provider? Abba, Our Father? Isn't He Immanuel, God with us?

God is a God of Wonders, a Father who Loves Us and whose desires for us are marvelous and outstanding. So I ask you again: do you believe God or do you believe your mini version of God?

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!  Matthew 7:7-11

After the lack of response from the crowd, Blondin's manager, Harry Colcord, climbed on his back, and then The Great Blondin made the journey to the other side safely. Why Calcord? Because he not only believed with his mind. He trusted Blondin with his heart - he had seeing him training, working out, getting ready. He had watched Blondin crossing the tightrope many times and he KNEW he was able to do it. So he not only said he believe, he acted.

Our God is a not a god who fits in a box. He doesn't do as we expect, He surpasses understanding. 

His ways are higher than ours and his thoughts exceed our thoughts. He is the One "who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" (Ephesians 3:20).

Do you believe Him?

Your Sister

The Living One Who Sees Me

As I'm preparing to teach tomorrow on Sunday School, I feel the Lord's hand working on my life in this very subject I decided to talk today.

Last year as I prepared to move back to my home country, the Lord came powerfully and moved things around me and told me clearly He didn't want me to go home. He called me to trust him. Let me tell you this is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.

I grew up always planning my future, looking ahead, having an idea of where I'm gonna be in the next 2-5 years. But since the Lord said "TRUST ME", I've been learning to put aside my plans and do it. I had lots of experiences with God in the past, but nothing prepared me for that.

How do you trust when you can't see a thing in front of you? As a Thomas kind of person, I felt very bad when, looking to what I thought is missing in my life, I blame God for not having it. And as I prepared the lesson for tomorrow, God caught my attention in a special way. Let me take you there.

When we are children, it’s easy to feel afraid when things around us don’t go as we expect. If a storm starts, if we get sick, if we move schools, every little thing can make us think we are alone. But God never let us alone, he is always seeing us and look with us with compassion. When we grow up, the situations are different, but it doesn't mean we feel different. We can still feel the same loneliness and abandon.

The lesson this Sunday is about Hagar's story, and her experience with God. Have you ever been in a situation where nobody was there to help you? Hagar thought she was alone and forgotten, but found out Someone was watching over her.

In Genesis 16 we read that Sarai, Abram's wife, decided to take things in her hands and accomplish God's promise of an heir to them through giving her servant Hagar as a wife to her husband. When Hagar got pregnant, she started despising her mistress. Sarai complained to Abram and he said she could do whatever pleased her to Hagar, he didn't care. So Sarai mistreated Hagar, and she fled from her.

The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert and asked her what she was doing there. She explained she had run from her mistress. Then He told her to go back to Sarai and make her a promise - her descendant would be too numerous to count. He told her son would be called Ishmael (God hears), for the LORD had heard of her misery. He also added that he (and his descendants) would be against everyone and everyone against him. The descendants of Ishmael are the arabs, and from here you can understand the conflict between Israel and Palestine and much more. But this is not our topic here. 

The question is Hagar was feeling lost and abandoned, neglected for her mistress, a pregnant woman in the desert. Sometimes we feel the same way - I do. Psalm 121.7 says: “The LORD will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life”. What do you think it means? Another verse says: “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” (Ps. 34.15) It means that God is seeing us all the time. Whatever our situation, God sees us, and He is there to help us. He knows what is hidden in the future, cause He planned it for us.

"TRUST ME" is the hardest thing for me because I want to do, I want to be, I want to know. But  I don't, and you don't, and nobody knows what future lies ahead.So we have to trust God even when things go hard (well, and when things go easy too).

When life becomes painful, we can find strength in what Hagar discovered. The Lord is “the Living One Who Sees Me.” When we understand that the Lord is aware of our pain and need, our strength will be renewed. God not only sees us, He sees the future. He promised Hagar a future for her unborn son Ishmael. We too have hope for tomorrow, whatever our pain is today. God is never caught on surprise. He is the One Who Sees.

“The LORD will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life”. Ps.121.9

Hope you find this assurance as I do tonight. 

Your Sister