Mini Bites 36.0

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Mark 4:35-41

You have to remember that when Jesus says, "We are going to the other side," it is not open for discussion, it's not up for interpretation. When He says "We are going to the other side," He meant that you will see the other side.

Storms may try to drown you, fires may surround and try to suffocate you, you may be thirsty in the desert, but God's report is still the same. It hasn't changed with your circumstances. It didn't bounce back void because people said no to you.

You can hold on, you can trust in God's word. It will come to past. Don't stop believing. God won't put you to shame. He won't embarrass you for waiting in faith for Him. God will do what He said He will do no matter what is happening around you.

Stay expectant. You will see the other side.

Bible Study: Stay, Wait, Watch

This past summer, I confronted something that took my breath away and ushered in the tears.

I am a runner. I hate exercising but boy, can I run.

I run when faced with difficult situations. I run when I'm uncomfortable. I run away from my feelings and emotions.

And it hurts to realize that I would rather run than find out what I'm made of because I am scared to see that I don't measure up to some standard or expectation.

So I'm learning how to stay put, how to plant roots even though I'm terrified because seasons change, disappointment will come, some expectations won't be fulfilled.

However, joy does come, the investment does pay off, I can enjoy the place I am rooted in but I have to wait.

I have to be patient although everything around and within me is telling me to leave, to get out, to run.

In 2 Kings 2, Elisha is sticking close to Elijah's heels.

Elijah can't shake off his apprentice. Three times, Elijah has given the younger man a chance to rest but Elisha is adamant about following his master.

Elisha isn't about to take a rest now, not when God was planning on taking his mentor away for good. So he stays with Elijah and refuses to leave.

Then Elijah turns to him and asks, "What can I do for you before I'm taken from you?"

And Elisha answers, "I want to do what you do."

Elijah replies, "Watch me and when I leave, you'll be able to do what I do."

And I think what Elijah just said is very important.

As a society, we are so caught up in doing and gaining experience that we forget how important it is to watch how the thing we want to do is actually being done by those who are doing it.

We don't want to watch because that means we have to learn, which means we have to be patient.

I shudder every time patience is brought up...

For me, waiting is a waste of time. I feel like I should be doing something productive, that I should help God out and hurry up the process.

But the thing is... God doesn't need my help and He doesn't need yours either. And He isn't trying to hurry up the process...

He simply wants us to wait and watch as He does a work within us to prepare us for His will.

It may seem like nothing is happening around you but you can trust that things are changing for your good and His glory within you.

There is no wasted time in His economy. He's fashioning you into the person He created you to be. Why wouldn't you want to take your time and learn from Him to be the best-you you can be?
He made you, why wouldn't you wait and watch Him in order to learn how to live your life?

Although, Elijah's ministry seemed to be slowing down and nothing was happening right up to the point that God plucked him from the earth, Elisha stayed expectant, knowing that the best is about to come. That's why Elisha could boldly ask for such a thing as a double portion in his life. He knew that he wasn't done learning and gleaning from Elijah yet.

And we should have more expectancy of God, who can do immeasurably more than what we ask or imagine.

He even said it Himself:

Believe me: I am in my Father and my Father is in me. If you can’t believe that, believe what you see—these works. The person who trusts me will not only do what I’m doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I've been doing. You can count on it. From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I’ll do it. That’s how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son. I mean it. Whatever you request in this way, I’ll do.

John 14:12-14

But are you spending time with God? Are you rooted in His word?

You can't expect more when you aren't fixed on what God promises to do and is doing in your life.

If your perspective isn't on God then it's easy to get restless as you focus on what isn't happening in your life.

If your perspective isn't on God then it's easy to get scared and worried as you focus on what is happening in other people's lives.

It's easy to run, to abandon ship, to give up if you don't look to God.

We have to stop leaving prematurely.

We have to stop quitting.

We need to stay and wait and watch.

Cause only then will we get to do something more than Christ through His strength and grace.

Only then will we see the payoff and the fruit.

But we have to be with Him, learn from Him and watch how He does it first.

Even as the seasons blend into each other, as nothing seems to be happening, as the worry and doubt start to creep in and you want to run...

Stay, wait and watch instead.

Or you'll miss out on the big reveal of what God was doing for you backstage.

A Bible Study: Elijah the Stranger Danger

Can I be transparent for a moment?

I feel overwhelmed. After a summer of freedom and laziness, starting school again, being on a schedule again, becoming responsible again is the biggest struggle right now.

And with my car giving me trouble, feeling disconnected in a place I know that I'm called to and missing family and friends, I cry out to God on a daily basis.

And yesterday was no different.

I just finished listening to an A-MA-ZING! word from John Gray of Lakewood Church (Sept.24). I was pumped. I was encouraged. I was excited. Then I got on the phone with my sister and I was sobbing.

Things got uncomfortably awkward real quick and I had to get off the phone. And it wasn't anything that my sister said or did, it was me! I was crashing from that high! I couldn't sustain myself on that elevation. I needed more than a good word. I needed action!

With snot and tears everywhere, I shouted to Him that I had nobody! Everyone I knew couldn't help me the way I needed! I kept looking to people for something that only He could give me, so here I was, on my bed, screaming, "I NEED YOU NOW! You're the only one I got!"

Then in the midst of my misery, Elijah pops into my head. And after a few more minutes in my wallow of self-pity (cause that's just how I do), I pick up the bible and read his story.

Before 1 Kings 17:1, Ahab, at the time, has disobeyed God and followed after his predecessors' footsteps, raising up the idol Baal and causing the Israelites to sin.

And then this happened: Elijah the Tishbite, from among the settlers of Gilead, confronted Ahab: “As surely as God lives, the God of Israel before whom I stand in obedient service, the next years are going to see a total drought—not a drop of dew or rain unless I say otherwise.”

Elijah comes out of nowhere. At first, I thought I missed his introduction so I flipped back but I couldn't find him. He just appears in chapter 17 and he shared God's message with the king of Israel, Ahab.

I was so confused. Usually, when we meet people, we get their whole background. We learn about their mamas and their daddies and their issues but not for Elijah, so I dug a bit deeper into what was said about him.

Elijah the Tishbite, from among the settlers of Gilead

Gilead is mountainous region divided between Gad and half of Manasseh, the two of three tribes that did not cross the Jordan River into the promise land.

Tishbite means stranger.

Therefore, Elijah, the stranger from the land outside the promise land, got an audience with the king and told him what's about to go down: a drought for the next few years...

A stranger, an outsider, an outcast, a nobody was placed in front of a king.

A stranger, an outsider, an outcast, a nobody was being used by the King!

Isn't God AH-MA-ZING?!

Even now, in this time and age, you cannot get an audience with someone of importance without the right connections and the right resume filled with the right list of prestigious titles and accolades. You have to prove your worth before you can get into the presence of someone of worth.

But I am so glad that we serve a God who is above and higher than the world's way.

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

1 Corinthians 1:27 

If you're anything like me, you may think that you have nothing to offer, you may think that you don't meet man's requirement for approval and recognition, you may not see a way to achieve your dreams, but if you do what Elijah did, if you align yourself with God and follow Him, you'll find yourself being used by God Almighty in mighty ways, you'll find yourself before kings and queens, before people who will fund those dreams.

God is so amazing and He is so faithful. He sees you and He knows you.

Where you are may make you feel like a stranger, an outsider, an outcast, a nobody but in His eyes you are His Beloved and soon enough He will usher you into the promise land to do His will.

Don't you know that what's inside you is a danger to the plans the devil has? The enemy wants you to feel isolated and unimportant so that you can't activate the gifts God placed inside of you. If he gets you to feel small and insignificant then that will cripple your walk with Christ and you won't be effective in God's will.

So you can't believe those lies. You have to keep that fire of faith alive. 

You have to believe that God loves you, that He has not forgotten about you and that He will use you at the right time.

Don't quit. The world needs you!