Get A Grip

And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise."

Things seemed to be going well as I sat behind the wheel of our little (and almost antique) tractor as I mowed some of the tall grass in a pasture close to our house. All of the sudden, as I maneuvered between a couple of small trees, the tractor took a tremendous jolt and slammed to a halt. I had crossed over a small gully hidden by the tall grass and brush. Now, as I tried to go forward or backward, the wheels just spun. The rear wheels of the tractor were suspended over the gully and, no matter how much power I gave them, they could not get traction. We had to use a “come-along” to drag the tractor far enough to get traction.

As I read the above verse where Jesus clearly explained that he would be killed and rise again, I thought of the problem of traction. The disciples refused to accept Jesus’ words and when the event came, they were paralyzed with despair, fear and disbelief. Even though they had spent three years with Jesus, their refusal to hear and believe Jesus’ warning about His death and resurrection caused them to “lose traction”. Even the testimony of trusted friends was not enough to ignite hope. Jesus had to personally appear to them to pull them out of the ditch of fear and depression.

The strength and depth of our belief is revealed when a crisis comes. Jesus has given us knowledge of Him, information about the future and promises that we can choose to grip in such times. Does our faith have traction when a temptation or a storm hits or do we turn again to our own resources, worldly wisdom or dark despair? When death shows its pale face do we remember Jesus’ promise, “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” When men or even friends threaten us because we won’t give in to temptation, do we remember Jesus’ words, “But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.”

The more Truth we know and genuinely believe, the greater our grip on actual reality. If our faith is anchored in the character of Jesus and His Words, then, in a crisis, we will not be paralyzed by fear, anger or despair. Instead, we will have traction that will allow us to encourage others, to be a light in the darkness and to manifest the love of Christ. But, even if we lose our grip on reality as described by Jesus, He will not abandon us. He will rescue us from our paralysis and darkness. Let’s soak in God’s Word because it is a window through which we can see and get a grip on Reality.

Project: (Let's do SOMETHING different)
- Take time today, tomorrow and everyday to read God's Word
- Choose a truth that you want to grip firmly and memorize it.
- Meditate on that truth until it becomes part of you and how you think.
- Repeat