Waiting for Rhythm

Good morning sunshine. It's another beautiful rainy day here and for some reason, the rain always relaxes me. Now, I always start my day with a cup of coffee, but on a rainy day, there's something quite magical about those first few hot sips while outside with the refreshing scent of rain. Ah, rain is refreshing isn't it? We all need those momnents from time to time. Life carries on, either mundane and seemingly lifeless or it's choas and moving like a feight train. Wherever you're at, this is for you.

The other day I had made a pot of coffee and we were slow. The coffee didn't sell and I watched the pot sit there for hours. Hours! I had to keep it on the burner so it wouldn't get cold and you know what happened? After several hours of being un touched, the coffee burned. It tasted awful and was such a waste of potentially good coffee. This was not one of those beautiful refreshing moments. When you work hard for something, you don't want it to go to waste. It's a terrible and defeating feeling.

As Easter was just here I have been refelcting on the life of Jesus and His ministry a lot lately and I had been reading through Acts one and a couple things caught my attention. Especially on this day when I burned the coffee. I see all over the place that "Judas ate too". This statement really is a powerful reminder that no matter how far from grace we think we fall, God is still preparing a home for us. A seat at His table. It is a powerful statement and I don't want to negate this but take it one step farther. Judas didn't just dine at the table with Jesus and the other disciples. Judas didn't just walk alongside Jesus and witness all these miracles either. Jesus washed Judas' feet too. Jesus, knowing full well what was to happen, not only allowed Judas to sit at the same table as Him, but Jesus knelt down in complete humitlty and submission to God and washed the feet of a man who was about to betray him. How often do we find ourselves in a place like this? When we say turn the other cheek you can always hear the other christian in the back of the church pews who also slings out that Jesus threw tables too. As people, we tend to be looking for ways the Bible might justify our feelings. But the Bible is so clear about this. Don't. Now, you can feel things. God designed us to have emotion. But everything in balance right? Before I act, I shouldn't be asking "what might make me feel better" but rather "will my following actions glorify God"?

I think it's important to note, that In Acts 1, it's a very small chapter, and it simply goes over the disciples voting Matthias in to take Judas' place. At this time, Jesus had risen from the dead and Judas' was no longer living. Why was it so important this little peice of information was placed in the Bible for us to read? Surely it wasn't simply for a historical account. I think there is something in there God wants us to be aware of. There was a need to fill this role so the church could continue on. I found this powerful in my own personal life. Judas' was replaced. I know in the Christian view the word replaced seems pretty ugly. We were all created special in God's eyes and there isn't anything in the world that can take that away. You are special. Which is why dear Christian you need to hear this. God's will always wins. We needed Jesus to go to the cross. Our very lives depended on it. If Judas chose a different way to spend his life, mark my words, Jesus still would have gone to the cross. Because God knew there wasn't another way. Except for maybe starting over,. The heartbreaking thing is, Judas missed out on the blessing. Judas missed out on the peace that surpasses all understanding. Judas was like that burned coffee. Full of goodness and turned sour. Judas watched all these miracles and still chose another way. It was wasted potential.

We need to guard ourselves. The world is a dark and scary place sometimes. But there is also light. If you don't focus on the light, we find ourselves lost. We buy the lie that there is still time. Life is just too short to live this way. How many deaths do we see in our daily lives that leave us with the thought that they never finished what they set out to do? Anne Frank would've been released from Bergen-Belson consentration camp just two weeks after her passsing. My grandfather had just started a church and passed away unexpectedly. There are countless other's stories with the similar settiment. We didn't think they were finished. Dear Christian, you should always be ready for we do not know the day or time of the Lord's return. We need to be a body of belivers in rhythm. Not stagnant. I find we as belivers tend to jump on our own "Biblical Rollercoaster" sometimes. We go to a concert or hear some eloquent speech and get on this spiritual high. Suddenly we are on fire and we want the whole world to hear this miraclulous epiphany we had. But, as time goes on, we find ourselves in our own valleys. "Woe is me". The reality is, we all have bad days. Many of us are blessed with good ones too. But you'll find this emotional rollercoater is exhausting. You ever hear the phrase "steady runs the race"? If we become like that coffee and we are never used, we become stale, flavorless. If we chug the coffee all in one gulp you might get the jitters. Coffee and Christians alike, we are supposed to be used. We are not meant to be sitting idol and purposeless. But you don't have to go to far to find a purpose. I've found that really, the majority of Jesus ministry, He didn't have to go out of His way to look for the right people. He simply loved those in front of Him. It really can be that simple. Love those in front of you. The way Jesus did. Don't let yourself become bitter and live a life in rhythm with Christ.