ARE YOU EXPECTING TOO MUCH? (Russ Lawson)

I've come to the conclusion over the years that some people drop out of religion because they expect the wrong things. Some people come to a church because they are looking for something they haven't been able to find or something missing in their lives. They become a Christian or become involved with a local church and expect their lives to suddenly be perfect, no more problems to face. No more attacks by Satan, suddenly their whole life should become easier with no more hassles. When that doesn't happen they just quit and give up on God.

People like this are kind of like a lady who was picking through the frozen turkeys at the grocery store, but couldn't find one big enough for her family and was trying to get to the ones in the bottom of the freezer. A stock boy happened by and she asked, "Do these turkeys get any bigger?" The stock boy replied, "No ma'am, they're dead."

The stock boy thought she was asking for something unrealistic and far too often we do too. One of the things people fail to realize is that the peace we find in Christ is of a spiritual nature, which allows us to eventually find peace in our physical world. There are some people who can make that transition in understanding, growth if you will very quickly. Probably most people like this have already been striving to have a relationship with God. They can find a new peace that passes the understanding of most of the world, but most of us are not that way. We need time to mature in Christ from a new beginning and grow into what God intends. Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:2, "Be full of desire for the true milk of the word, as babies at their mothers’ breasts, so that you may go on to salvation."

When we do that then we will find that peace in God for which we are looking. But the key is that God does expect us to grow, not just set in a church pew like a new born child laying in its mothers arms, never growing, never maturing. Paul writes about this in Hebrews 5:11-14 where he says, "We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."

The bottom line is this; if you want to find peace in this world don't expect to find it quickly or easily. It comes to us when we give the Word of God time to grow and mature in our lives by putting to practice the things we find in it. We become as Paul said, "the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."

(Messages From The Heart)

The Ant and the Grasshopper (Author Unknown)

A mother of a 9 year old boy, Mark, received a phone call in the middle of the afternoon. It was the teacher from her son's school.

"Mrs. Smith, something unusual happened today in your son's third grade class. Your son did something that surprised me so much that I thought you should know about it immediately."

Mothers seldom want to hear from their child's teacher in the middle of the day. The mother was uneasy and nervous by such a beginning to a phone call. "What now?" the mother wondered.

The teacher continued, "I have been teaching for many years and nothing like this has happened until now. This morning I was teaching a lesson on creative writing. And as I always do, I tell the story of the ant and the grasshopper. The ant works hard all summer and stores up plenty of food. But the grasshopper plays all summer and does no work.

Then winter comes. The grasshopper begins to starve because he has no food. So he hops to the ants house and begins to beg. 'Please Mr. Ant, you have much food please let me eat, too.' Now boys and girls your job is to write the ending to the story.

Your son, Mark, raised his hand. "Teacher, may I draw a picture?" "Well, yes, Mark, if you like, you may draw a picture. But first you must write the ending to the story."

The papers came in. As in all the years past, most of the students said that the ant shared his food through the winter and both the ant and the grasshopper lived. As always, a few children said, 'The ant said, "No, Mr. Grasshopper. You should have worked in the summer and not played. Now, I have just enough food for myself." So the ant lived and the grasshopper died.

But your son ended the story in a way different from any other child, ever. He wrote, "So the ant gave all of his food to the grasshopper; the grasshopper lived through the winter. But the ant died."

And the picture? At the bottom of the page, Mark had drawn three crosses. "He gave everything to us so that we might live; but Jesus died."

Praise God for Jesus's sacrifice on our behalf!

Today's Turning Point with David Jeremiah

Seeing Only One Side

How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?
Psalm 13:1

Recommended Reading John 12:27-28

Directors of dramatic films often use a camera sequence that heightens the tension in a scene. Two enemies will be within feet of each other -- on opposite sides of a wall or on parallel streets in a city without knowing it. An aerial shot or split screen gives us, the viewers, the advantage of seeing both parties. But the actors are portraying extreme tension, not knowing where the other person is. 

That tension is what we feel sometimes when we can only see our side of the split screen without seeing God's side. We're in a situation of some sort -- trouble or danger is approaching -- and we cry out to God for His help and intervention. And either we don't hear immediately from God or we get an answer that is not what we wanted or expected. The problem is, we can only see our part of the drama. God is above it all and sees what we cannot. Consider the time the Israelites were delayed in reaching the Promised Land (Exodus 13:17-18), or the time the answer to Daniel's prayer was delayed for three weeks (Daniel 10:1-14) -- both delays were for good reasons.

If you are asking God for something and the answer is slow in coming, remember that you are seeing only one part of the equation. 

Hope is the foundation of patience. 
John Calvin