You do not want to leave too, do you?

Has the Lord offended you?

Are there questions that have gone unanswered?

Have you been pushed to the limits of your faith and understanding and had to make a decision to still hold on?

In John chapter 6, Jesus finishes sharing a difficult teaching for his followers to understand and many people begin deserting him.

Verse 66
From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

This is a very strong life statement. What happens in someone’s life that would cause them to make a decision to turn and run from the Messiah? There is a part of me that has always thought these people must be crazy. However, once life begins to take more than you were you were ready to give and you find yourself standing on ground that is foreign, it usually always seems like a good time to run. The Bible guarantees that we all will face these types of struggles in one fashion or another. So, then how do we stand strong during some of the hardest times in life? How do we follow the admonition of Ephesians 6 that tells us to keep standing and ward off the enemy?

I believe we find the answer in verse 67 and 68 of John 6.

You do not want to leave too, do you? Jesus asked the twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know you are the Holy One of God.”

The disciples did not even think of running anywhere else because they were sold out and had nowhere else to go. This doesn’t mean they were stuck with Jesus, but that they put all of their stock in the person and message of Christ. This is a way of serving the Lord that is not lived out very often. Most of us trust the Lord, but have a plan B, and C- just in case he doesn’t come through. There is a big part of who I am that has always relied on my own skills and ability to get me through if the Lord didn’t function like I thought he should.

This pride has been my folly. This pride assumed many things over the years that were nothing but seeds of destruction. I long to be like the disciples and when the weather shifts and life begins to get scary I have nowhere to run but to God.

If the Lord allowed the worst to happen and then asked me
“You do not want to leave too, do you?”
that I would be able to say in response,
“Lord, to whom shall I go? I have placed all my hope in you and trust you for my survival.”

Thought for the day
It is safer to be in the most difficult storms resting in the arms of God than to be sitting in what may seem like a safe harbor far away from God.

Dear Lord,

Thank you for your guidance and for your word that reminds me of who I am and who I need to be. Forgive me for my pride. Please continue to strip me of anything that does not allow me to place my whole trust in you. I know the safest place I can be is in the "Lion’s Den" with you sitting next to me.

I love you Lord,

Kristopher