Daffodils Are Out

March 10th, 2009

Invited a few friends round. Went off to get some supplies from Tesco, got a DVD ready, then waited.  Nobody showed up.  

You spend ages considering the small group programme, preparing questions, setting out the room.  You may get an apologetic phone call at 7.55, but just a couple turn up.  

She was part of your group, then you hear her say; ‘O yes, I still believe, but I don’t have time for Church anymore’.  

The 20 lessons cost a lot of money, and so does the test.  You do your very best, you haven’t collided with anyone else or hit the curb, but you still can’t seem to satisfy the examiner.  

For five years you’ve endeavoured to work well, serve and have a good attitude, and then a relative newcomer is promoted over you.  

How do we respond to disappointments like this?  We look to Jesus Christ who experienced disappointment in the most profound way.   Having reached 30, he devoted the next three years to teaching, helping and serving others.  He performed some amazing signs, lived in an exemplary fashion and called people to follow his example, but only a few responded.  

He poured his life into his 12 friends and the others who accompanied them. He shared his heart, his insight, his love, his dreams. They shared food, finance, friendship and faith, but in the end, every single one deserted him – and he was the Son of God, despised and rejected by men.  

Today we read in John 12: Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single seed.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  In other words, keep doing what you know is the right thing, however tough it is even if you are disappointed, because you are not living just for now but for eternity.  And, look around you, the daffodils are out.                                 

David Thatcher
 

Filed under: Thought of the Week