And there they are:
Wait, you can’t see them? How about now?
Still no? Ok, how about now?
So good looking I almost missed the elk. That would have been a shame. I wouldn’t have known it was a shame because I wouldn’t have known I missed the elk, but a shame it would have been nonetheless.
As I stood there snapping pictures galore, I thought about the fact that I almost didn’t see them because I wasn’t looking for them. They came at me unexpectedly.
The other week at camp I was reading through the book of John. Sometimes you just need to get focused on Jesus again, don’t you? Forget all the arguments, forget all the “theologically correct-ness” and just give me JESUS. To know him and to be known by him.
Anyway. I was reading in John and one passage in particular caught my attention.
John 6: 22-36 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. 23 Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” 26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” 28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” 30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’[c]” 32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.
Isn’t that interesting? The people in question here are those who had just been fed….they are “The 5,000” if you will. They had just seen Jesus do one of his coolest miracles. And they thought they had him figured out. They thought he was a genie who does exactly what you want and puts food in your stomach.
I half smile-half cringe at the thought of that. Smile because they were so proud and oblivious. Cringe because I am so much like them; more so than I want to admit.
Do you ever feel like that? Feel like you are going to God just so he can meet some need? Like he is a great big free supermarket, there for you to take what you will at your leisure? It must be the human condition; these people thought that, too. And Jesus knew it. He says there in verse 26, “You were not looking for me because you saw the signs I performed, but because you ate and had your fill.” He knew that we seek out things for their benefits.
But the truth of the story here is that they weren’t expecting to find Jesus where he was, just like I wasn’t expecting to see the elk. They figured he would be somewhere else.
Then I REALLY cringe, because over and over again I find myself expecting Jesus to be somewhere he is not. How often do we do that? I think we do it a lot. I know I do it a lot. I just figure that I have my life figured out, so when he does something I don’t expect, or more often than not, when he simply is NOT to be found where I wanted to find him, sometimes I have a hard time with it. I can feel like he needs to gain my trust again.
Wait a second? Gain my trust again? Who do I think I am? Is God not being where I want him my problem or his?
It’s my problem isn’t it?I can put Jesus inside this box and say, “This is how God works. He doesn’t ever swerve from my convinced 12-step plan.”
Let’s be honest. How often does God ever do what we think he will? So why do we keep thinking this time he will, and then get angry when he does not?Yikes.
Ok, the very fact that Jesus mentions the manna here is no coincidence. The Israelites were not looking for manna in that desert, did you know that. Do you know what the word “manna” means? It literally means “What is it?” They were shocked by how they saw God provide. He provided them with a mystery; something they couldn’t figure out. It did not make sense to them. It was not what they were expecting. They would have preferred something else.
The redeeming factor of this story is found in the disciples, though. The disciples weren’t on the first side of the lake either. Why? Because true disciples are where Jesus is. Whether it is where they want him to be or not. What a lesson to be learned! Thanks, you guys.
That’s what I want to be. I want to be a woman who goes where Jesus is, regardless of if it is where I planned on finding him or not. This takes humility, too. I can get pretty proud about things I have convinced myself of about who God is, where he works, and how he deals with situations. How about we all make a deal to never think we have God figured out, ok? Ok, sounds good.
Another thing I can see from the “seekers of Jesus” is that where you are expecting Jesus is a tell-tale sign of what you are seeking from him. They were looking for him on one side of the lake. Why? Because that was where he fed them. That is why they were looking for him. They wanted to be fed again. They thought he was an avenue to food.
I just started reading some selected writings of A.W. Tozer. Quite good stuff. He quoted this unnamed English author at one point. “Lift up thine heart unto God, with a meek stirring of love; and mean himself, and none of his goods.”
I felt convicted by this. This looking to God for his goods and not seeking HIM. I no longer want to seek God for any of his goods, but him alone. We cannot keep looking for God just for his benefits. He is not merely a functional savior. And he won’t be just where we want him to be. He is not some avenue to a spouse who we think will fill some kind of need we think we have, he is the Greatest Relationship. He is not the money we think we need so we can feel secure, he is the one who says no system of man can protect us. He is not the manna in the desert and picnics on the beach, he is the Provider of the Mystery. He is not a project to figure out, he is the One we are more known by than we could ever know in return.
Don’t expect only his benefits, Wolfies. Expect only him---and that being nothing we expected.
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