Reconciliation

This is something that has weighed on my mind for a very long time. I just never could string the right words together that would communicate what I was feeling. It's one of those things that is clear in my mind, but gets garbled up before it can get through the vocal cords (or fingers).

I was studying for our Sunday school lesson today, and I read a passage that summed up what I had been feeling.

In John 17:20-26, Jesus is praying for us. His prayer...His deep desire is for us to be one just as He and His Father are one. If it is important to King Jesus, then it should be important to us.

In our country...in the world in general...but the United States of America in particular, there seems to be quite a bit of racial tension. A great deal of mistrust between the races. This should not be so. No one should look at any other person and judge them based on any physical characteristic. (2Corinthians 5:16-21; 1Samuel 16:6-7)

We are supposed to be as one body. A body is made up of a bunch of different parts, but all function together to achieve one goal. Sound familiar? This isn't for our benefit only. As believers in Christ Jesus, we are His ambassadors. The world needs to see something in us. We aren't meant to serve ourselves and our agendas, but Christ and His agenda. We seem to have lost sight of that.

In Ephesians 3:7-10, the Apostle Paul spells it out for us. In John 13:31-35, King Jesus commands us to love one another, and gives a reason why in verse 35. There is a bigger plan here. Something bigger than us is at work. We are invited to be a part of it, if we can get focused and back on task.

The devil has come up with some really good lies that many of us have fallen for, hook line and sinker. This idea that we are different or inferior or superior in any way to anyone else because of what color our skin is....it's one of the most vicious and evil lies ever conceived in the pits of hell. It has caused some real divisions in the body. Paul warns about this in Ephesians 6:11. It's one of those schemes.

We were given the ministry of reconciliation. We are to assist in the reconciliation of men to God through the work of Christ Jesus. We need to reconcile ourselves to one another first. Jesus Himself said that a house divided cannot stand. We need to put on our armor (Ephesians 6:10-20), get focused (Philippians 4:4-7) and stand as one vast and mighty army marching for the cause of Christ.

Lessons Learned

Often in life, things occur that are difficult to understand. Everything is going along so smoothly. Then, out of nowhere...bam! It seems so random.

We are moved to ask why. Most of the time, the answer eludes us. We are faced with a choice at that point. We can either trust that God knows what He is doing and not lean on our own understanding or we can blame God and become angry and bitter.

In John's gospel, we read about someone who, along with his family, sought such answers. Someone who was born blind. (John 9:1-3) Turns out, there was a reason for it. Not a reason anyone would have ever dreamed. Just like almost everything God does, it was something no one saw coming, something completely unexpected.

This family had a special needs child. A blind son. And all the challenges that came with it. The son grew into manhood, an outcast. A man who was not even considered a man by the society he lived in. One can only imagine his day to day life in that time and culture. Then one day, Jesus and His disciples were walking by and saw him. I wonder what went through his mind when he heard what Jesus had to say about the reason he had been born blind: "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him." (John 9:3)


This is something that those of us who are believers in and followers of Christ Jesus should remember in times of trouble, or when we are blind sided by a tragic event. What is happening may not be about me. God may be using the circumstance to teach someone else, or to help someone else see hope in their own situation.

It is vitally important that we know what God is telling us in His word, and that we live out what we say we believe. That we rejoice in the Salvation of our God, and are sensitive to the leadership of His Holy Spirit. That we are always wearing our spiritual armor.(Ephesians 6:13-17)

We are given a promise. We will be ready for the curve ball. We will be able to withstand a direct hit and remain intact. (Philippians 4:4-7) Wear that armor, trust in the Lord, even when we can't make sense of what is happening. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.