Where Can I Go?

This can be a tough time of year. February blahs. The sun hides. The kids are cooped up. There can be far too many cancellations of things that give you the energy to push through the winter and into spring.

Jesus was familiar with tough seasons (and I’m not talking about nature’s weather cycles).

Look at this…

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

"You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. - John 6:66-67

I love the fact that God was the original Undercover Boss! He put on a skin suit and lived for 33 years incognito. Relating. Interacting. Feeling. So close. So personal. So intimately aware of our human predicament.

“You do not want to leave too, do you?” He says to his closest group. The group that ate, planned, worked, traveled, washed, and slept their way through three and a half years with Jesus.

People were walking away from Him. Why? Because He intrigued and astonished them with His teachings, wisdom, and authority, but when push came to shove, and the teachings became daily realities that required some hard choices, they bailed.

• I want life to go well for me. And my kids. And my spouse.

• I want good health!

• I want to be fulfilled in my career.

• I want success.

• I want to be understood. To be taken seriously. To be respected.

• I want a voice at the table.

• I want a church that gets me.

And when we don’t get what we want—against the backdrop of God who is for us, and with us, and has the power to do something about it, but doesn’t—we too, consider bailing.

He might be asking you today, "You do not want to leave too, do you?"

Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” - John 6:68

The most powerful thing in the universe—the word of God—speaks, summons, and activates life into your whole being, whether or not you acknowledge that everything in you sometimes just wants to walk away. To run. To get in the car and drive for days.

His words of life breathe into you a willingness to stay. And stay close. Tuck in. And hold on.

I’m real because God is so real.

~ Nancy

CALLING

If you’re struggling right now, yes, maybe get yourself a sun lamp (that sun-deficiency thing is real!), and yes, you need some friends around you here and there. But good grief, turn to God. Turn to the one who holds all life.