Don't Forget Your Umbrellas!

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DON'T FORGET YOUR UMBRELLAS!

This came up in my reading this morning. I underlined it and committed to spend some time meditating on it. From Randy Alcorn's book, "Fifty Days of Heaven,"....

"No Christian should be pessimistic. We should be true realists---focused on the reality that we serve a sovereign and gracious God. Because of the reality of Christ's atoning sacrifice and his promises, biblical realism is optimism." (p. 2)

I conclude, easily, that I have never witnessed a time of what I consider to be such societal, cultural malaise. Nearly everywhere I look, I see valid reasons for people to be pessimistic.

There is an account of a time in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ when all the necessary ingredients for pessimism were thoroughly present. A crowd of 10-12 THOUSAND people followed Jesus as he was trying to get away for some spiritual respite, renewal. He "could" have seen that crowd, and bolted for some other place to get away from it all. He didn't.

Instead, the scripture tells us, "he had compassion on them." Compassion in the original language suggests a deep, visceral, response.

My best personal definition of "compassion" is my mother's response when as a little boy with some kind of sickness in the night I would move quietly to her bedside and put my hand on her arm. Of course my memory "could" be somewhat flaw after all these years, but what I remember is her hand moving to and rubbing my head and repeating the words, "there, there." THAT is compassion!

This is kind of an addendum to the above paragraph...I have thought that if "they" could have bottled mom's "There, There's" that mom and dad could have been quite wealthy! Truth is...God has blessed all moms and dads with valuable "There, Theres!"

Anyway, after Jesus went around that crowd and healed whoever needed it, he got the disciples together and told them to prepare a meal for that crowd. (Remember 10-12K!). Their response, "Hey, listen, all we've got is five loaves of bread and two fish." That is nothing when compared to the dietary needs of this size a crowd.

Jesus went into his "organize-a-picnic mode" and had them all sit down on the grass. Then, in a way that kind of resembles Holy Communion, he looked up to heaven, gave thanks, broke the loaves and fish and gave the blessed and broken food to the people and fed them all and the disciples organized a left-over pick up crew and gathered up TWELVE basketfuls.

Here's what I think is a main point from this teaching...with Jesus in your midst, there is always reason to be optimistic! Always! ALWAYS!!!

I'm pretty sure I've known some people who would have gone around muttering, "He can't pull this one off. Too little food. Too many mouths. Too little food. Too many moths!"

And, I can almost see and hear Jesus looking out over that hungry crowd and whispering, "There, There!" Listen, carefully and you, yes you!, will hear his "There, There!" over YOUR life!

Does anyone reading this remember Ann Kiemel Anderson? She told the story how a group of Christians in Africa lived in a place where a terrible drought had set in, and stayed for far too long. Finally, the pastor of the little church told the people to gather on a Sunday afternoon to pray for rain.

The crowd gathered and began to whisper their prayers. The last one to show up was Mary (I've forgotten her native name). Mary marched barefoot up the road...carrying an umbrella! Mary marched to the front of the crowd and called her prayer out LOUD.

Ann said that within minutes the thunder clapped and the lightning flashed and the wind picked up and the rains arrived!

Oh, I love that story. If we are gathering to pray for rain, bring umbrellas!!!

I remember Dr. Tony Campola coming to the Church on the Hill to speak, years ago. At the end of the service, he said something like this, "I've never done this before, but I want the rest of this service to be a healing service! If you have faith that Jesus heals people, stay and pray with us. If you don't, please leave." It was like he was symbolically saying, "All you people with umbrellas, stay and pray!"

Pessimism sickens or kills everything it touches. Optimism, FAITH IN JESUS, brings life! Have faith, my dear brothers and sisters! The Good Lord is in your life and...something good is about to happen. Amen!
Friend,

Pastor Wes

PS. On this home stretch to my eternal dwelling in heaven, I SO want to be a person of FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST, don't you?!!!