Simple Truths

I had been looking for a suitable apartment for months. I was fresh out of college and still living at home but longing for a life on my own. So I scoured the internet and newspapers and asked everyone I knew about apartments for rent near my workplace.

Every place I looked at was either outside of my budget, in the wrong area, or didn’t fit my needs. I was so disappointed. I had this expectation of finding the perfect place to live so I could officially start this next chapter of life. That’s what people do, right? You graduate from college, move out of your parents’ house, and get a job. I had two of these three secured, so I just needed to find a home to complete the final piece of the puzzle.

God’s timing didn’t align with mine, and I stayed at home for another year before the right location was available. At first, I felt defeated and unsure of what God was doing in my life, but soon realized that what the world says my life should look like is rarely what God has for me.

In John 5, as Jesus healed a man who was disabled for nearly four decades, the Jewish leaders swooped in and began to condemn Him for healing on the Sabbath. Instead of celebrating and standing in awe of what Jesus did for this man, they objected to the healing because of the day of the week.

Sometimes it feels easy to read the Scriptures and say, those leaders had it all wrong; how did they not see what Jesus was doing, or even claim we would never respond that way, but don’t we often lose sight of what’s important?

Aren’t we all too often like the Jewish leaders? We get caught up in how we think or want Jesus to act and lose sight of what He has for us. Are we missing out on what Jesus has for us because it doesn’t look like we think it should?

Jesus says at the end of this chapter:

“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life.” (John 5:24a NLT)

How simple is this message from Jesus? Just listen to Him and believe, and you’ll have eternal life! Yet, we often look for our way of doing things, not God’s. So, while I often want to do things on my own, like move into the next chapter of my life in my time, this verse reminds me that Jesus is God, and He always does what He says He’s going to do. Therefore, we can hope and trust in Him for all of our needs!

Father, thank you for loving us and always providing for our needs. Help us know that Your ways do not always look like ours, and let us trust that You are in control. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Scripture is quoted from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.