believe – Page 4 – John Markum

Jump!

Posted on August 17, 2011 by johnmarkum

Tiffany and I are now the parents of a kindergartener! It seems unreal… when did I get this old?!

Anyway, we had our kids at the pool here recently and were having a lot of fun with the kids. Emilee, who is now 5 and learning to swim was doing good. Until, of course, I had the genius idea to get her to jump into the pool to me. She was terrified of it. All of my persuasive powers were useless against her… until she saw her little sister do it!
Finally I coax her to the edge and she counts to 3 (for the hundredth time!) and actually jumps to me! And, just as I predicted, she loved it. So she gets back out of the pool, but will she do it again? Nooooo! Even though she had so much fun, even though she sees her little sister do it, even though daddy caught her, each time it’s like pulling teeth to get her to trust me enough for her to jump.

But often I’m no better… God tells me to trust Him, step out on faith, and watch Him work. And even though He has never missed catching me, each time difficult circumstances arise, requiring me to trust God, I can be even more difficult than getting my little girl to jump into the pool to me.

And as frustrated as I can get at her as her parent, I wonder, “Does God ever feel the same way? What would God say to me when I stress out over things I can’t control?” I imagine it might be something like…

Trust Me! JUMP!
I caught you last time didn’t I?
Have I ever let you drown?!?
It’ll be so exciting to leave the ledge of your safety and see what I can do when you trust Me!
I’m serious! JUMP, BOY!

And it’s particularly interesting how Emilee insists on jumping to me in the shallow end. As though she can touch the bottom on either side! The truth is, it doesn’t matter how much water is below me, if I’m within reach. Because I love my kid so much that I’d never put her in a situation that I couldn’t get her through.

And it doesn’t matter how “deep” this situation is over the last time. Our God has promised to “never leave you, nor forsake you.” Whatever is at stake, He’s in control, and capable of bringing you through it… just like He did last time… just like He’ll do every time.

Go ahead… Jump!

Blessings,

John

So Close…

Posted on August 13, 2011 by johnmarkum

“Jesus sent out the twelve apostles with these instructions, ‘Don’t go to the Gentiles, or the Samaritans, but only to the people of Israel – God’s lost sheep.'” Matthew 10:5,6

I live and do ministry in the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa – an area that sits right on the Mississippi River with a population of approximately 325,000. The QC is a pretty typical Mid-West area. There is massive farming communities immediately outside (and somewhat inside) the cities, We are home to several major manufacturers, and nearly everyone has a church background.

I’m amazed at how I often I run into people and how seldom any of them claim no church affiliation. Here in the Mid-West, church is something that nearly everyone grew up with. And regardless of whether or not you actually go to church has nothing to do with “belonging” to a particular flavor of of religion that your parents or grandparents said you belong to.

When Jesus sends His disciples out for the first time on their first attempt at doing ministry outside of his direct supervision, He instructs them not to go to the Gentiles (Non-Jews) or the Samaritans (Half-Jews), but to the people of Israel, “God’s lost sheep.”

Really? The Jews? God’s “lost” sheep?!? Didn’t Jesus understand how well these Jews knew God? How well they obeyed the Old Testament? Their superior understanding of the laws of Moses? Didn’t He see the synagogues filled each Sabbath day with Jews eager to obey God?

Out here, nearly everyone knows about Jesus, believes in God, and owns a Bible. Almost all QC residents would claim some building as “the church I grew in.” Many of them even make the occasional appearance for Christmas or Easter. Most were married in a church. But with all of this religion and church experience there is an enormous oversight…

You see, the Jews would not have considered themselves “God’s lost sheep.” They would have considered themselves to be God’s favorites. But the truth is, they were off. They had a “form of godliness” but not the true “power thereof.” Being in church doesn’t make you close to God any more than me being in a shop makes me a mechanic.

Be careful that you’re not so close to “God” that you miss Him completely. Understand that your connection to Him is as close as you want it to be – He’s never been the one to leave.

A lot of people know about God, but don’t actually have a relationship with Him. There’s a word for a person who knows a lot about someone without having a relationship with them: “stalker!” Too many people are stalking God, but have not accepted the invitation to know him through Jesus Christ.

What about you? Do you know God, or are you creepin‘?

What you CAN’T See

Posted on July 27, 2011 by johnmarkum

2 Kings 6 tells this fascinating story of Elisha being surrounded by the Aramean army. He had been relaying the details of their battle strategy to the king of Israel, and when the enemy found out they didn’t want to take chance by only sending a dozen troops. So they sent the likes of an entire battalion… for one man.

You ever felt the same way? Like you were being surrounded by seemingly impossible circumstances and the future was unclear, and there was no clear way of survival? Maybe for you it was a relational thing. Or college. Or your finances. Chances are, you can fill in the blank with your own example of an army surrounding you.

The best part of the story is when Elisha’s servant looks out the door to see the army surrounding them: No way of escape, no weapons, and outnumbered 1,000 to 2. Elisha prays for God to “open his eyes that he may see.” As God does so, the servant sees them being protected by an even greater army – an unseen army – made up of the hosts of Heaven.

Elisha does not pray for the army to be killed, he simply asks God to blind them. Then he leads the blinded battalion to the king of Israel, asks God to restore their sight, and then allows them to go back to their land unharmed. The Arameans leave Israel alone after that.

Funny, how something that looked so impossible was resolved, and without even a battle taking place. That’s how big our God is! Our God will take our overwhelming odds, and thwart their efforts to harm us.

Real faith is believing that there is something greater at work than what we can see with our eyes.

He never promised us bad stuff would never happen to us, He only promised that we’d never be alone, and that through Him we are more than conquerors. We will overcome by the power of our God. He is greater! He is with us! What can possibly stand in our way? Do not fear your circumstances. Look to our God, and expect great things from what you do not see.

Blessings,

John