A Thrill of Hope - Week 2: Day 3
Wrong Questions
There have been so many times in my life that I have been distracted by seeking the answers to the wrong questions. Sometimes for myself, sometimes as a pastor for someone I am praying for or counseling, sometimes just out of mere selfishness. But I have come to realize over the years that the burden of focusing on the wrong questions is really a distraction keeping me from understanding the purpose and provision of God in any given circumstance. When I realized this, I began responding to others by encouraging them to focus on His grace. Wrong questions will keep us from sensing His presence in our immediate circumstances. Remember the Footprints poem? One of the reasons that poem became so popular is because it correctly answers a wrong question. God never leaves us in our despair, He never makes or wants us to travel or walk alone…He most certainly carries us more often than we realize.
In Luke 2:6-7, the Bible reads:
The answer is that God could have. God could have had a room at the inn available. He could have arranged Jesus to be born in a wealthy family, He could have had a Humvee in the desert rather than walking endlessly as He did from miracle to miracle, He could have called 10,000 angels when He was on the cross being ridiculed, He could have done virtually any other thing that you can imagine…but the question isn’t really what could the Father do, it is what he willed to do.
The apostle Paul tells us that even though Christ was rich, He became poor for us, that we might become rich. The No vacancy sign on the inn was not for Him, it was really for us. It was for our sake He became poor (2 Corinthians 8:9).
Everything that in the Gospels, is for us. In fact, everything in the entire Bible is for us! It is so that we can know the King better and more intimately. Sometimes we get caught up in the wrong questions…questions that maybe we are not even supposed to know the answers too, and then for some reason, we get stuck and distracted. Christmas is an easy season to get distracted in. Honestly, the whole holiday season is easy to get distracted from the things that really matter. The most important thing that really matters in any of our lives is our relationship with Christ! And the best thing that we can do for Him, and with Him, is to communicate that importance to every single one of our family members and dear friends. We need others to see that we are serious about the things that really matter to us, and that our relationship with Christ is urgently important. The King of Kings came in a humiliating little manger…because He chose to. The next time he will be coming on his victory horse! Then it will be game over for everyone. Everyone’s fate will be final. No more chances. No more patience. Just righteous restoration. The writing is on the wall…and it is telling us the time is near, it is telling us to be prepared, and it is inviting us to get ready. Take a few moments and jot down the things the Lord is laying on your heart right now. Then spend some time reflecting, restructuring if necessary, and rethinking the importance of this incredible season.
There have been so many times in my life that I have been distracted by seeking the answers to the wrong questions. Sometimes for myself, sometimes as a pastor for someone I am praying for or counseling, sometimes just out of mere selfishness. But I have come to realize over the years that the burden of focusing on the wrong questions is really a distraction keeping me from understanding the purpose and provision of God in any given circumstance. When I realized this, I began responding to others by encouraging them to focus on His grace. Wrong questions will keep us from sensing His presence in our immediate circumstances. Remember the Footprints poem? One of the reasons that poem became so popular is because it correctly answers a wrong question. God never leaves us in our despair, He never makes or wants us to travel or walk alone…He most certainly carries us more often than we realize.
In Luke 2:6-7, the Bible reads:
“So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
I have heard people over the years ask the wrong questions about Jesus. Some of these questions have gone like this: “If God is in control and able to orchestrate everything in creation, why was Jesus born in a barn? Why couldn’t God have made a hotel room available?The answer is that God could have. God could have had a room at the inn available. He could have arranged Jesus to be born in a wealthy family, He could have had a Humvee in the desert rather than walking endlessly as He did from miracle to miracle, He could have called 10,000 angels when He was on the cross being ridiculed, He could have done virtually any other thing that you can imagine…but the question isn’t really what could the Father do, it is what he willed to do.
The apostle Paul tells us that even though Christ was rich, He became poor for us, that we might become rich. The No vacancy sign on the inn was not for Him, it was really for us. It was for our sake He became poor (2 Corinthians 8:9).
Everything that in the Gospels, is for us. In fact, everything in the entire Bible is for us! It is so that we can know the King better and more intimately. Sometimes we get caught up in the wrong questions…questions that maybe we are not even supposed to know the answers too, and then for some reason, we get stuck and distracted. Christmas is an easy season to get distracted in. Honestly, the whole holiday season is easy to get distracted from the things that really matter. The most important thing that really matters in any of our lives is our relationship with Christ! And the best thing that we can do for Him, and with Him, is to communicate that importance to every single one of our family members and dear friends. We need others to see that we are serious about the things that really matter to us, and that our relationship with Christ is urgently important. The King of Kings came in a humiliating little manger…because He chose to. The next time he will be coming on his victory horse! Then it will be game over for everyone. Everyone’s fate will be final. No more chances. No more patience. Just righteous restoration. The writing is on the wall…and it is telling us the time is near, it is telling us to be prepared, and it is inviting us to get ready. Take a few moments and jot down the things the Lord is laying on your heart right now. Then spend some time reflecting, restructuring if necessary, and rethinking the importance of this incredible season.
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1 Comment
Excellent message. Made me take a different look at my Godly relationship. Thanks, Watson.