This is week five in our series on what Scripture teaches us about the value of wonder in our lives and ministries.
  
Today’s Scripture passage is Luke 8:25 (KJV)

As we have been looking at examples of wonder in the Bible, we have seen a lot about wondering in awe at the works of God and our awe and wonder in remembering those works, but as we see in this verse sometimes we wonder out of perplexity and confusion instead of awe.

When we first started talking about wonder, we looked at the following definition:

Wonder - a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable.

There is another definition for wonder though. Sometimes wonder means:

Wonder - feel doubt.

The storm they were experiencing led them to wonder. They wondered what was going to happen to them. They wondered why Jesus was sleeping. They doubted their safety. Jesus recognized this as He asked them where their faith was. Like the disciples, we have times where our wonder comes from a place of doubting too. We wonder why He is doing what He is doing, or why He is allowing something, or why He won’t do something. Like the disciples we find ourselves in the middle of a storm, scared, confused, and wondering in doubt.

The storm got pretty bad before the disciples went to Jesus with their doubts and concerns. We often do the same thing. We’re so focused on the storm and maybe wondering why God isn’t already doing something about it. We try to handle it on our own or conceal our doubts, but like the disciples finally did we need to take our doubts and concerns to Him, and let Him help us through it.

There’s one more important definition for wonder:

Wonder - Desire or be curious to know something

Sometimes the doubting type of wonder leads to amazed wonder which leads to this curious type of wonder. The disciples took their doubts and concerns to Jesus and then saw Him do something amazing. He spoke a word and calmed the wind and the waves. There was definitely surprise from something unexpected and inexplicable, but there was also curiosity over something. They were curious how He calmed the storm. This was not normal human behavior, so they wondered who He was and how it was possible. Sometimes we see God working and we wonder in amazement and it also drives us to wonder more about Him. This can lead to a deeper faith and a deeper relationship with Him which is always a good thing.

So if you are finding yourself in the middle of a storm or a season of storms, it’s okay to have doubts and concerns, but take them to God. Let Him help you through it until He brings you to the point that you can look at what He did in amazement and longingly desire to know Him more.

It doesn’t take long in life, or ministry, to hit a season of difficulty and challenge. Seasons of uncertainty, fear, and grief rock us all at times.


We each have our own tendencies in how we try to get through these types of seasons. We might try to buckle down, work even harder, and just plow through. We might try to bury our heads in the sand and try to act like everything is okay. We might do our best to get through what we have to, and then distract or numb ourselves so we don’t have to deal with our thoughts and feelings. We might isolate ourselves so we don’t have explain to others what we are dealing with. We might do the opposite and vent to trusted people or anyone who will listen. We might get angry and explode on those around us. It could be that we do any one of those or possibly a mix of them depending on the situation and season that we are facing.


Maybe we look for healthier alternatives though. We might seek a trusted advisor. We might try to process our thoughts and feeling through journaling. We might do some deep breathing or seek to exercise or eat healthier. We might look for some books to help us where we are struggling. We might look to spend time with friends and family. We might finally take time to rest. While these are definitely strategies that are much better for us than the first ones, Psalm 31:24 has an even better idea for us:


“Be strong and let your heart take courage,
All you who hope in the Lord.”


Read that verse again, and maybe one more time after that. I don’t know about you, but reading those words lets me just take a much needed deep breath. At the same time I find myself wanting to say: I want to be strong. I want to be courageous, but I just don’t know if I know how or if I can.


There is good news. The key is in the second part of that verse: “All you who hope in the Lord.” This is where we begin. When we’re uncertain, when we’re afraid, when we’re grieving or struggling, we need to start by hoping in the Lord. Sometimes we don’t just isolate ourselves from others. Sometimes in difficult seasons of life we isolate ourselves from God too. We know that’s not helpful, but we do. So start there. Stop isolating yourself from God. He hasn’t left you. He is waiting with open arms for you to come pour out your hurt, your pain, your fears, your worries, and your sorrow to Him. Not only can He take it, but He will love you through it. He will walk with you through whatever fire surrounds you.


When we go to God in difficult times, His love and His truth sparks hope in our souls. Not hope in our situation or anything else that we tend to cling to, but hope in Him. It is that hope that enables us to be strong and take courage. When we’re at the end of our rope and we can’t muster up that strength and courage on our own, it comes from hope in Him.


So are you facing uncertainty, fears or sorrow today? Spend some time with God. Enjoy His presence. Pour out your struggles and allow Him to fill you hope, strength, and courage.

Today's post begins with a Scripture passage from Matthew 25:14-30.

​As I read this passage recently two words caught my attention in a way I’d never really noticed before. Those words were “afraid” and “entrusted”.

The third servant in the story was was clearly operating out of a mindset of fear. He was afraid and he hid what was given to him. Sounds a lot like Adam and Eve who found themselves hiding after sin entered the world.

Why was this third servant living in this place of fear? You might say that that wasn’t his fault, because he wasn’t given as much so in a way it would be easier for him to lose everything. The second servant really didn’t have much more than the third servant though, and yet he approached things very differently.

I don’t know that I’ve ever really questioned that difference too much. Two were good stewards. The third one wasn’t. We should be like the first two. Seems simple enough, but why did the third guy make such a different decision?

He was afraid. He wanted to protect what he had because he was afraid of losing it. It seems like his focus was on what would happen to him if he lost what belonged to the master.

But the word that seems pretty important here is a word used by both of the first two servants. They both used the word “entrusted”. They both refer to the money the master gave them as having been “entrusted” to them. This word is nowhere to be found in the third servant’s explanation.

Their next words seem to shed just a little more light on the mindset difference. The first two servants both say to their master “See, I have gained…more talents” while the third servant says “See, you have what is yours.” The first two viewed what they had been given as theirs to do something with. They saw that they had been trusted to make use of the money in a way that honored their master. The third servant couldn’t seem to see past the fact that the money ultimately didn’t belong to him and that something bad might happen to him if he did anything with it.

Toward the end of this passage the master says: “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance”. Sometimes that seems kind of harsh. How are people supposed to get anything if only those who have get more? But then that word abundance caught my eye. It reminded me of John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

The third servant didn’t seem to recognize what he had been given. He only saw what he had to lose. Sometimes it is so easy for the “thief” to get us to focus on what we don’t have or what we could lose and we end up losing sight of what we have been given and how we have been trusted. It’s the difference between living with a scarcity mindset that tells us that there will never be enough, and living the abundant life that God wants us to live.

We each have to choose what we are going to focus on. Will we focus on protecting what we’ve been given, being too afraid to lose it to the point we won’t accept and use it. Or will we focus on what we’ve been given, what we’ve been trusted with, and do something with it to honor the One who entrusted it. The choice is yours today. What have you been trusted with? Will you open your eyes and recognize it and begin to use it to honor God?