People have different ideas about who Jesus is.
Prophet, but not the Son of God.
Good man.
Good teacher.
Lunatic.
The world's greatest salesman.
Feminine coward who let people kill him.
Weak.
Co-pilot.
Homeboy.
Genie.
I think this last one, a genie, is where a lot of us church people get hung up at. We usually only pray to God when it's in our best interest. We are loving life when it is good, but go running to him when life gets bad. We start going to church more (maybe even bible class), praying that he will fix all of our problems for us and get us out of this pickle.
When circumstances aren't so hard anymore, all of a sudden he doesn't seem as important.
[I'm not going to blow your mind with anything theological here, I'm really just talking to myself and rambling, which my husband will tell you I'm really good at.] ;)
God doesn't love us more or less depending upon the amount we pray to him, because he knows everything about us anyways and is sovereign over all. He will lead us where he wills regardless if we ask him to or not.
I think praying to God is commanded in scripture because it's in OUR best interest, and it changes our hearts in a way that only prayer can do. It makes US softer towards God and towards others, not the other way around. So in a way, God commands us to do something that is good for us.
How awesome is that, right?
I mean, we could just be little robots walking around not talking to him and he is sovereign so he orchestrates things as he pleases, but he invites us, commands us, to interact with him of our own free will. And in that, God is lovely.
But back to my main point (Because I really did go off on a tangent).
The other day, I was working in the kitchen, baking and doing dishes, ya know, stuff you do while working in the kitchen, and all of a sudden, Jesus crashed down into my life.
Here's what I mean. (It's metaphorical and literal, too.)
We have a cross hanging in our kitchen that is made out of the letters of Jesus. It was a gift of a dear friend from Honduras, in case you were wondering :)
It isn't exactly like this, but pretty close.
Anyways, I was ho-humming around the kitchen, and out of nowhere, this cross made up of the letters of Jesus literally crashed down right into my face!
And I chuckled to myself, because even though it was a literal crashing down, it is metaphorical as well.
Going about our daily lives, sometimes Jesus just comes and crashes down out of nowhere, and it is when we least expect it.
If you know him, you will find this is a beautiful thing.
He crashes down into an argument with our spouse.
He crashes down into sleepless nights with babies.
He crashes down into two-word conversations with toddlers.
He crashes down into dirty laundry, doing dishes, changing diapers.
He crashes down into our loneliness.
He crashes down into our busy-ness.
He crashes down into time spent with friends.
He crashes down into long car rides.
He crashes down into holidays and vacations.
He crashes down into family drama.
He crashes down into our good days.
He crashes down into our bad days.
He crashes down when we least expect it.
He crashes down into our sin.
He crashes down into our pride.
He crashes down into our anger.
He crashes down into our self-righteousness.
He crashes down into our gossip.
He crashes down into our finances.
He crashes down into our schedules.
He crashes down into our relationships.
He crashes down into our homes, and yes, even our kitchens.
In all of this, I always remember the beginning of James 4:6, speaking of God:
"But HE gives more grace..."
May I be a picture of His grace to my home & family, to the church & to the world.
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