Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus.
Philippines 3:14 (The Message)
Hal Borland quoted “Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning, but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instil in us.”
That quote is for a New Year but is equally significant for the beginning of this new month. I am sure that quote means something to all of us for the experience alone we have gathered in these few weeks will hopefully have given us wisdom.
What is your desire and goal? I suppose it is an end to lock down and the birth of new hope and life or something like we used to know.
As restrictions are once again lifted to some degree and people start beginning to get back to some normality, it reminds me that Jesus once told the disciples they were going to go to the other side. Jesus meant crossing a lake. The problem was before they got to the other side, they were faced with sudden terrible weather conditions that made them fear for their lives.
As they began to panic they noticed Jesus was fast asleep (how could He sleep with all this noise and water pouring into the boat?) so they abruptly woke Him and stated: “don’t you care?”
Yes, Jesus did care! But Jesus could sleep because He knew the difference between A DESIRE AND A GOAL.
A desire is something good that we would like to happen, but we have no power over whether it happens or not – other people can get in the way.
A God-given goal is something that no one else can get in the way of. Jesus had a goal to go over the other side and no weather conditions were going to prevent that. Jesus proved to be the master of nature telling the weather conditions to calm down and be still.
The followers of Jesus said, “what kind of person is this, even the wind and sea (weather conditions) obey what He says”. Whatever you are facing, the same Jesus is committed to you and has not just a desire but a goal for your life.
Paul the writer who wrote Philippines 3:14 refused to park his life’s goal despite handicaps.
Fanny Crosby, a great hymn writer, and Louis Braille moved past their terrible handicaps and became fulfilled human beings, not in spite of but because of their blindness. Beethoven, who we are eternal debtors to his deafness. The last words of this composer of such majestic music: ‘I shall hear in heaven.’
God is in your situation too, whatever the conditions you are facing, so let me leave you with this famous quote. “Don’t tell God how big your problem is, but tell the problem how big your God is.”
Out of the incident we have looked at today I received a wonderful lesson which has become my favourite quote and one which now underpins my life Jesus is in the boat.