From Real to Permanent

Jesus answered them, "Do you finally believe? In fact, you're about to make a run for it--saving your own skins and abandoning me. But I'm not abandoned. The Father is with me. I've told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I've conquered the world." John 16:31-33 The Message

Jesus prepared his disciples for his departure by telling them that they were going to face dark times which he had, in fact, conquered. "I'm leaving; but don't worry, even though things look dark, I've gone on before you and defeated them." In his providence, he could have prevented their difficult times but he chose not too. Instead, he wanted their faith to grow from "real" to "permanent".

"So, you finally believe?" he asked. Good!- their faith was real. "But you are about to abandon me- scatter all over. Some belief!" Yes, at that moment, their belief- their faith- was real. But what Jesus desired was that it be permanent. That when hard times come, they wouldn't scatter but would stand strong, trusting him.

Recently I have been faced with the dark emptiness of my own life. I see the empty life that has turned it's back on God's blessings and trusted only in what it could see and feel.(And believe me, in the darkness, I couldn't see or feel very much!) These are the dark times Jesus was warning of: the times when we all look at our lives and see empty self-sufficiency or skeleton-like religion. We haven't felt God's love, we've refused to believe he is in control or worthy of praise in this dark situation. We have convinced ourselves that he has abandoned us...yet it is us who have abandoned him. Somehow when we face that darkness, we assume he is not in it. That we have been abandoned to face it alone. How very untrue this is. Jesus says we will have dark times. He's not going to prevent them. But he has gone ahead, into those dark times, and overcome them. All he asks of us is to exercise our faith and walk into those dark times with a song on our lips and a prayer in our heart, trusting him to provide. Praising him that what he desires is for our faith to grow from real to permanent.