4 We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work.
A couple of things... God will sacrifice physical comfort for spiritual gain. We aren't too keen on that and somewhere in our psyche, we have programmed into us, just like the disciples, that everything that isn't comfortable is a punishment or a persecution...when actually, there's no guarantee that it is either one. It could just be a sacrifice of praise to your God. Are you okay with that? To quote the great theologian Ben Stiller from the end of "Meet the Parents"...CAN YOU DEAL WITH THAT?
That's a tough concept to assimilate....God creating you to go through a hardship so He can show His power. This blind man had lived to manhood, completely blind, and it wasn't anyone's fault or a punishment, but was simply so God could show His power. That's not the particularly lollipops and giggles God that everyone seems to try to sell, but the sovereign Lord that we are all forced to come to grips with if we follow Him long enough. Of course, God loves us, but we forget that His purpose doesn't begin and end with this act of love. Though valuable enough for Him to voluntarily die for, we are not more valuable than Him.
None of us really have any problem with God showing His power, in fact, we welcome that moment...it's the stuff before it that we have the biggest problem with. It's also that God doesn't send us a postcard letting us know when this process begins that it's going to end up with Him showing His power. Many times, we are in the dark until the moment that it happens, much like the blind man.
Truthfully, the blind man was fortunate. I'm reminded of a story I heard Monday night in my LifeGroup of the an Eastern European cleric who attempted to take down Communism by defending the truth and overcoming evil with love. When the troops came into the streets, he handed them cookies. He finally was killed, finished off by being drowned to death, after being tortured within an inch of his life. The people to which he preached revolted by the thousands, but they were true to his message as they marched through the streets shouting "We forgive".
He never saw that moment in the story...he never saw the massive result of his life on Earth. The truth is that many of us will never see the culmination of what God has for our lives...regardless of our lives, the ripple lasts longer. The fortunate really get a moment of exhale, when they know it was really worth it...but it never compares to the moment when we see Christ face to face and really get it.
The thing we must remember...is the final statement. The night is coming and at some point, your chance to make a difference will be no more....when no one can work. There is an urgency...but we must not run ahead...but delayed obedience is still disobedience. There must be a balance of tension and patience in life, where you are always ready, but never rushing. It's the obedience zone...it's the balance on the waterskis between pulling and being pulled (one gets you a face of water)...because we all have tasks and we must "quickly carry" them out when the moment comes, not hesitating, but surging forward in urgent patience.
Look for it. Don't miss it.
Please continue to pray for us as we try to be the Jesus' church in west Palm Bay Florida at Bay West Church.
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