From The Crucible (by Pastor Linda Pugsley)

© Bill McCown | www.myghcf.com

Did you ever wonder what Jesus did before God led Him on His earthly ministry? The Scriptures only give us a short account of a trip He went on with His parents when He was a teenager. On that trip, we see He obeyed both God (He was teaching in the Temple) and His parents (He returned to the caravan from where He went missing).

Maybe I think too much, but I wonder what Jesus’ conversations with God were like back then. Did He ever say something like, “Excuse Me, I’m only a carpenter here…I thought I was supposed to be the Messiah!” Or, “What’s up with the Son of God getting all dirty and sweaty?” As I ponder these things, I, of course, come up empty. God is God and often doesn’t explain His ways to humankind. I only have the “little” view of what is at hand and not the “big” picture that He does.

In the military, that point is made every day…we just get the orders, not the explanation. As a young Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, the Wing Commander never showed up at my office door each morning to give me the briefing he got…nope…my job was to follow the Wing Commander’s decisions and not my own version of them. Do you do that with God? Do you do what you want to do because He hasn’t shown you the whole plan; or do you start doubting His wisdom and grace because He has not shared the entire scope of the meaning and value of your recent challenges and trials?

Be careful not to go there. God would not be God without some “mystery” surrounding Him. Not because He is purposely confusing us, but because His “God-ness” is higher than our ability to understand all that He is. After all, there certainly is nothing miraculous or mysterious about the things we can actually explain. But, heh, only a humble heart can admit they are not “God”. Hmm-m…maybe God allows quite a few humbling situations in our lives to get the point across that He is truly greater than we will ever be. Mankind is limited and God is not. How wonderful, really, when a trial comes your way that shows you are not at all in control of the outcome and yet God rescues your sorry fanny anyways.

God is so awesome and kind and good! He has a plan for you, a plan for your welfare and not your calamity; to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11). So just let go and Him be God; He is so much better at it than you are! Endure the fire…it’s producing pure gold!

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