…I will hope continually,
And will praise You yet more and more.
My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And Your salvation all the day,
For I do not know their limits. Psalm 71:14-15 NLT
John 16:1-4 (<<click here to read the passage)
In any kind of intense training, it’s not just about how to do the job. You are informed about the perks and tricks of the trade. But a good trainer includes the bad stuff, too.
When I was trained to drive a school bus, I had an excellent trainer. She covered all the bases and she for sure didn’t leave out undesirable parts of the responsibilities either. There will be major disagreements between your students – my first year, I had a 5th grader punch a 4th grader in the face! There will be vomit on your bus – I don’t know how she did it, but a Kindergartener managed to catch it all in the crook of her arm the very first day of school my second year.
There are other things that (thankfully) I have not had happen. Though I’ve had my bus break down several times, I’ve never had a tire blow out. Last week the bus behind me grazed my bus with his front mirror (I didn’t know it even happened!) but I am grateful that I’ve never had anyone hit and really hurt my kids or my bus.
There are innumerable benefits to driving a school bus but bad things – very bad things – can happen, too. (Just last week a veteran driver, while on his bus with 35 elementary students on board, from Washington state was stabbed and killed by a total stranger and nobody knows why…)
Jesus has been with His disciples for three and a half years but His earthly ministry was quickly coming to an end. At this point, He knows they need to hear the whole of what following Him means. The ultimate Trainer wants them to know that seeing God’s Kingdom come to fruition has innumerable benefits. But they also need to know that there will be problems, there will be pain, and there will be death.
He said,
“I have told you these things so that you will not stumble or be caught off guard and fall away.” v1 AMP
He was calling them to carry on, to pick up where He left off. They would by no means be left alone, the Holy Spirit would be there for them, but the road to ultimate victory would definitely not be an easy one. They would be outcasts and people would think they were offering service to God by killing them. The Pharisee Saul, who would become the Apostle Paul felt just that, Acts 9:1-2, 26:9-11 tells us so!
So ultimately, we too must be diligent in our service in God’s Kingdom but don’t think we will get by unscathed. It will definitely get a bit more than bumpy along the way…but Jesus will be with us all along the way, as well!
As God said to Joshua way back in the Old Testament, he says to us,
“So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 NLT
Oct 3rd, 2021, Sun, 6:59 pm
