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Click here to read Luke 8 on BibleGateway.com

Do you ever get the feeling that you’re focused on the wrong thing? A lot (maybe all)of magic tricks are based on the idea of misdirection. The performer grabs your attention with talking, hand movements, explosions, or other distraction, while all the time they are really pulling that spastic bird out of their jacket.

Sometimes we can feel like that in our spiritual life. We’re so focused on such-and-such particular issue (finances, what Sister Frustrating said to us on Sunday) that we miss what God is really doing. Then when the real crisis comes, we’re not ready for it.

SIGH. ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER STORM

Everyone knows the story in today’s chapter: Jesus and the mighty disciples are traversing the sea, a storm blows up, and the disciples bravely commit themselves the manly art of panic. They go to get to Jesus, who’s taking a siesta. We can almost see him roll his eyes, get out of bed, rebuke the waves (and the disciples), and head back to his bunk. The disciples are understandably in awe.

Fast forward to Jesus’ last night with his disciples. They go to the Garden of Gethsemane and Jesus goes off to pray. He comes back to find his disciples resting their eyes, he wakes them, asks them to pray. He goes again to pray, comes back, and again find his trusty helpers dreaming away.

WHICH STORM DO YOU SEE?

See the irony? The disciples were panic-stricken when they saw their outward circumstances; they were in physical danger and were afraid, but Jesus was calmly sleeping through it all. But when the real crisis moment came, when Jesus was in his desperate hour of need, the disciples slept away, oblivious to the momentous occasion around them.

We can often fall victim to the same thing. When we’re in an immediate physical crisis, we panic and pray our hearts out for deliverance (and God often comes to our rescue). But we grow complacent when things are apparently going well, and don’t heed the warning signs and exhortations of Scripture to pray. Because we can’t see the spiritual realities, we may miss the important moments of life. We need to be on our guard and pray that God will give us the eyes to see what our real priorities should be.

Where is your focus today?

Click here to read Luke 7 on BibleGateway.com

One of Jesus’ defining characteristics was his habit of responding to people’s hearts rather than to their words. When people asked him questions, he would frequently ask them a question or tell a story that apparently had nothing to do with the question, but under the surface it would cut right to the heart of the matter.

Take Luke 7 for instance. In verse 39, a “sinful” woman is anointing Jesus with perfume, and his dignified religious host mutters to himself “If Jesus were a prophet, he would know that this woman is a sinner.” Jesus responds with the famous story a of moneylender who forgave two debtors.

OOPS, WAS THAT OUTLOUD?

Notice how this story comes about. The host doesn’t even speak directly to Jesus; he “said to himself…and Jesus answered.” How did that happen? Here this guy was having a private moment of feeling superior, and Jesus calls him on the carpet. Sometimes our private thoughts aren’t as secret from God as we would like to hope.

Secondly, the host is really attacking Jesus. His problem wasn’t so much that the woman was there (after all, he let her in the house in the first place), but that Jesus clearly didn’t have prophetic gifts that people said, or he would have known the character of this woman. But Jesus doesn’t respond to Simon’s muttered accusation; he doesn’t try to defend himself or prove he’s a prophet. Instead, he gets right at the heart of the problem: Simon’s pride.

THE POINT, CHARLIE…

Jesus wasn’t concerned with his position, or with Simon’s position, or the woman’s social status. He was concerned with getting them both to the point of a right relationship with God, and both needed completely opposite solutions. The woman needed to know she’d been forgiven, and Simon needed to admit his need. In one story, Jesus managed to address both issues in a way that everyone could understand, and to bring both to a crisis point of reconciling with God.

That’s what Jesus does.

Click here to read Luke 6 on BibleGateway.com

We like to think that we are reasonable people. That we choose to order the quad-pounder burger and extra fries because we are just that hungry, or that we objectively evaluate the evidence and decide that we do in fact need that mustang instead of the mini-van. Unfortunately, experience and history seems to show that we often decide on a course of action, and then look for reasonable reasons to justify it.

C=A+B

Verse 7 of today’s chapter says the Pharisees and teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, and so they watched him for a reason to attack him. Note the order here: they were already angry with Jesus (possibly because he kept telling everyone what weasels they were), then they waited for a reason to justify their anger. They weren’t even waiting for him to be evil; they just wanted him to do good like he always did (heal the suffering), and that would be enough for them to justify themselves.

This can be similar to what happens when we engage with non-believers. Their mind might already be made up, and they are just looking for reasons to doubt. In that situation, it’s very unlikely that anything you say or do will really change their minds. We may hope that all the reasons for faith that we have will be logical enough to convince them, but the truth is they may not be convinced no matter what because they have already decided they do not want to believe.

TRY AND TRY AGAIN…THEN MOVE ON

But does that matter? It seems that sometimes we get too hung up on “saving” one particular person or people group. On several occasions, Jesus said to go and preach to a town, and if they weren’t willing to listen, move on to someone who will. This goes against our nature of perseverance, but it might be that you are not the chosen instrument for God to reach that person. Maybe somebody else will reach them in a way that you can’t, when God has better prepared their heart.

This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try hard with each and every person, and to refine our “witnessing toolbox,” so that we can do our very best to reach as many as possible. But after we have tried out best, it may be time to move on.

People are still looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, and it doesn’t matter how much good he does. The Pharisees were upset that Jesus was disturbing the order of their lives, and their power structure. People are upset at Jesus for the same reasons today, and sometimes that anger may be transferred to you just for doing what’s right. Be encouraged today that it’s not your job to convince everyone; it’s your job to tell everyone. Lay what seeds you can and let the Holy Spirit do the rest.

Sound reasonable?