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Today at church our Pastor shared the sad but true story of his dad who couldn't drive but who he wouldn't take to the bars to get drunk (apparently he eventually died because of his alcoholism). The world certainly will find excuses to make us feel guilty for not doing what they want us to do. This can range from occasional abstinence from social activities that aren't necessarily wrong but take from more productive time with the Lord to permanent severance from those who clearly are on a destructive path. I am assuming here this person is not in our church and subject ot church discipline. Prayer clearly is in order; and of course individual situations may differ-having a close friend in the Lord to advise us also is quite helpful in those situations.
The struggle; of course exists between what we want for ourselves and what the Lord would desire. Waiting on the Lord can be a virtue and needed when there is no clear answer; but of course we can sit forever on the sidelines and never be ready and willing to be the hands and feet of Christ. Take the idea of rest; for example. We certainly need to be trusting God in all things; but also through the example of Christ and the Disciples we need to be willing to be inconvenienced; with either getting up before we feel like it for prayer; or taking extra time to help others. The other extreme is almost making a religion out of self sacrificial service. The example of Christ sleeping in the boat ( Matt. 8:24) is a good example of how to properly trust God. It is certain the Lord knew that He would make it successfully; and therefore actually set a good example there. We need to recognize when it is our own self destruction that is preeminent over God's will; and when the Lord shows us as in Phillipians 2:27 that He wants us to chill out we should pay attention. Overall; of course we should expect our lives to be uncomfortable more often than not.
People in our lives can be very unwise and selfish in what they demand of others, such as the example from your pastor. Being firm and denying such requests are not selfish on our part if the other person wishes us to help commit harmful actions. Often times parents of adult children will 'guilt' their children into complying with their wishes. This is selfish behavior and we can speak up and talk about how gladly we do want to help or spend time with them, but their demanding of it or guilting us into it is manipulative behavior and we will not enable that. These are hard conversations to have and can either improve a relationship or put distance in such a relationship. But creating sound boundaries in relationships is not selfish. it benefits both parties.
As to Jesus sleeping on the boat, I think that He was confident in His Father to keep Him until the time was right for His sacrificial death. He also knew that while He slept in His human nature, His divine nature never needed sleep or rejuvenation that comes from such respites. Jesus' humanity was tested each day by the needs and interactions of the throngs of people he encountered daily. He and the disciples needed time away from this intensity to be together in intimate conversation and fellowship. Being on the boat afforded this. It also afforded the opportunity for sleeping or praying together. It was not selfish for Jesus to sleep or get away from the crowds. He always followed the lead of the Holy Spirit and His own divine nature to do all things perfectly righteously. He always did the will of His Father and the Godhead was always in agreement and unity in all things. However, Jesus' human nature needed all the things we do, sleep rest, food, variation in activities to keep us healthy mentally and physically. In His humanity, Jesus prayed as we all do. He worshipped the Father, as we all are called to do. He obeyed the Father, as we all are called to do. And learned the Scriptures.
What Giannis said is equally true. Every major trauma the Lord went through He was hounded; such as with the death report of John the Baptist. He had perhaps a brief moment with the Disciples but attempting to be alone with them was rapidly ended with the throngs that came to Him for healings; etc. There is the very real possibility that although Christ was struggling to meet His needs in human form but He had to struggle further relying on the Spirit.
What I am saying is thinking about Job for instance we see the same sort of scenario. For bigger purposes Satan is allowed to buffet us when already weak when the Lord has the Spirit strengthen us because of purposes beyond our grasp. It is like Moses as well who was overwhelmed by the masses he was trying to appease; although the one time he succumbed to anger in human weakness it cost him from physically entering in the Promised Land in this life.
Clearly then it is most vital for us to pray for and support others who are in the ministry. We see that from Peter escaping from prison. Lack of such prayers also could allow some to die or struggle more than they would otherwise. How God works through prayer is a mystery; He of course intercedes for us and makes the prayer acceptable to God through His priestly ministry in heaven.
I can't help but think of what happens if we have a power grid failure; for instance. Suddenly we will suffer from long term issues. Those of us who are wise and can afford things such as solar energy or have their own farm; etc of course will do better.
Persecution as well could certainly deprive us of sleep not to mention other things often taken for granted today. May we all be as Christ who said meat for Him that the Disciples didn't know about was doing the will of God. ( John 4:34). In such a situation I would rather be the head than the tail so to speak. We will need to parcel out resources for our family but trust God for wisdom for others in need.
Jesus was often praying till late at night or very early in the morning. Often He stayed up during the whole night praying especially when the following day He would had to take a serious decision or face a serious challenge. During the day He could hardly find some time to rest, with all the multitude going after Him to listen to Him and get healed. So He rested any spare time He could find, even on boats, even during storms. He was so exhausted He couldn't wake up, unless His disciples woke Him up.
Of course this is not an example for all of us, but definitely is an example for those who want to serve the Lord in a ministry.
Today at church our Pastor shared the sad but true story of his dad who couldn't drive but who he wouldn't take to the bars to get drunk (apparently he eventually died because of his alcoholism). The world certainly will find excuses to make us feel guilty for not doing what they want us to do. This can range from occasional abstinence from social activities that aren't necessarily wrong but take from more productive time with the Lord to permanent severance from those who clearly are on a destructive path. I am assuming here this person is not in our church and subject ot church discipline. Prayer clearly is in order; and of course individual situations may differ-having a close friend in the Lord to advise us also is quite helpful in those situations.
The struggle; of course exists between what we want for ourselves and what the Lord would desire. Waiting on the Lord can be a virtue and needed when there is no clear answer; but of course we can sit forever on the sidelines and never be ready and willing to be the hands and feet of Christ. Take the idea of rest; for example. We certainly need to be trusting God in all things; but also through the example of Christ and the Disciples we need to be willing to be inconvenienced; with either getting up before we feel like it for prayer; or taking extra time to help others. The other extreme is almost making a religion out of self sacrificial service. The example of Christ sleeping in the boat ( Matt. 8:24) is a good example of how to properly trust God. It is certain the Lord knew that He would make it successfully; and therefore actually set a good example there. We need to recognize when it is our own self destruction that is preeminent over God's will; and when the Lord shows us as in Phillipians 2:27 that He wants us to chill out we should pay attention. Overall; of course we should expect our lives to be uncomfortable more often than not.
People in our lives can be very unwise and selfish in what they demand of others, such as the example from your pastor. Being firm and denying such requests are not selfish on our part if the other person wishes us to help commit harmful actions. Often times parents of adult children will 'guilt' their children into complying with their wishes. This is selfish behavior and we can speak up and talk about how gladly we do want to help or spend time with them, but their demanding of it or guilting us into it is manipulative behavior and we will not enable that. These are hard conversations to have and can either improve a relationship or put distance in such a relationship. But creating sound boundaries in relationships is not selfish. it benefits both parties.
As to Jesus sleeping on the boat, I think that He was confident in His Father to keep Him until the time was right for His sacrificial death. He also knew that while He slept in His human nature, His divine nature never needed sleep or rejuvenation that comes from such respites. Jesus' humanity was tested each day by the needs and interactions of the throngs of people he encountered daily. He and the disciples needed time away from this intensity to be together in intimate conversation and fellowship. Being on the boat afforded this. It also afforded the opportunity for sleeping or praying together. It was not selfish for Jesus to sleep or get away from the crowds. He always followed the lead of the Holy Spirit and His own divine nature to do all things perfectly righteously. He always did the will of His Father and the Godhead was always in agreement and unity in all things. However, Jesus' human nature needed all the things we do, sleep rest, food, variation in activities to keep us healthy mentally and physically. In His humanity, Jesus prayed as we all do. He worshipped the Father, as we all are called to do. He obeyed the Father, as we all are called to do. And learned the Scriptures.
What I am saying is thinking about Job for instance we see the same sort of scenario. For bigger purposes Satan is allowed to buffet us when already weak when the Lord has the Spirit strengthen us because of purposes beyond our grasp. It is like Moses as well who was overwhelmed by the masses he was trying to appease; although the one time he succumbed to anger in human weakness it cost him from physically entering in the Promised Land in this life.
Clearly then it is most vital for us to pray for and support others who are in the ministry. We see that from Peter escaping from prison. Lack of such prayers also could allow some to die or struggle more than they would otherwise. How God works through prayer is a mystery; He of course intercedes for us and makes the prayer acceptable to God through His priestly ministry in heaven.
I can't help but think of what happens if we have a power grid failure; for instance. Suddenly we will suffer from long term issues. Those of us who are wise and can afford things such as solar energy or have their own farm; etc of course will do better.
Persecution as well could certainly deprive us of sleep not to mention other things often taken for granted today. May we all be as Christ who said meat for Him that the Disciples didn't know about was doing the will of God. ( John 4:34). In such a situation I would rather be the head than the tail so to speak. We will need to parcel out resources for our family but trust God for wisdom for others in need.
My belief about Jesus sleeping on a boat.
Jesus was often praying till late at night or very early in the morning. Often He stayed up during the whole night praying especially when the following day He would had to take a serious decision or face a serious challenge. During the day He could hardly find some time to rest, with all the multitude going after Him to listen to Him and get healed. So He rested any spare time He could find, even on boats, even during storms. He was so exhausted He couldn't wake up, unless His disciples woke Him up.
Of course this is not an example for all of us, but definitely is an example for those who want to serve the Lord in a ministry.
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