Episode #95 Trusting God in Hard Conversations – Noticing God

Hey, friends. Have you ever noticed how much Jesus did ministry along the way in the Gospels? He'd be walking from one city to the next. He'd enter a town and go into a house. He would see things around him and use them in parables. He would respond to the people who were present there with him.

Well, my encouragement for us today is that God still operates that way, and he wants to engage with you in these few minutes along the way with you, whether you're driving or working or cleaning or have a few minutes to just sit down and spend time in the word and spend time talking with him.

And today we're looking at a time, he did ministry along the way, and it's recorded for us in Mark 10. The heading in my Bible is the rich young man. And it tells the story of a man who comes up to Jesus as he was on a journey and asks him what to do to receive eternal life. And Jesus reminds him of the commandments and the young man says that he's kept all of these from his youth. And so it starts out in Mark 10:17.

“And as he (Jesus) was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’” (Mark 10:17)

And Jesus responds to him. And so the man says, I’ve kept all these commands since my youth. And in verses 21 through 22,

“And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’ Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” (Mark 10:21-22)

And Jesus goes on to teach his disciples how difficult it is for those with wealth to enter the kingdom. And they say, well, who can be saved then? And he says, well, with man, it is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.

I was listening to the Bible read aloud from the Bible app recently as I was getting ready for the day or something. And the beginning of verse 21 jumped out at me. I'd never noticed it that way before. Jesus, looking at this young man, loved him and said to him the thing that he needed to receive the eternal life that he wanted, and the young man was disheartened. And he went away sorrowful because he refused to walk out the instruction that he had asked for.

When we approach God, we assume that love will look differently than it does. We want love to look like saying nice things that we want to hear. We want love to only be comfortable and comforting. And yes, one of the ways that the Holy spirit functions is as our comforter. And yes, God, he is love and he gives us grace and truth, but in his love, he doesn't withhold hard things from us.

One of the other things I noticed in Mark's gospel was how often the religious leaders were trying to trap Jesus. But they would give up their pursuit and come back to it later because they were afraid of the people. They didn't want to anger the people. They couldn't say this because it would upset the people. And there's a time just a few chapters later in Mark chapter 12 where they're coming again to try and trap Jesus. And I'll read verses 13 through the beginning of verse 14. It says,

“And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. And they came and said to him, ‘Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone's opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God.” (Mark 12:13-14a)

And then they go on to try and trap him. But I think it's so interesting that even in the midst of trying to trap Jesus and being afraid of the people, they can acknowledge, they're able to notice the fact that Jesus doesn't care about other people's opinions. That he is not swayed by appearances. But he teaches the way of God.

This is also the way that Jesus teaches us through his life. Because in Mark 10, the headings go from the rich young man to the very next section where Jesus foretells his death a third time.

If God only talks with us about nice things, if he never talks with us about hard things, if God never brings conviction, if he never brings transformation, then we're probably not talking with the God of the Bible.

There are seasons of comfort. There are seasons of rest and recovery when we're going through hard things. And God knows what we need before we know that we need it. But if we never enter into hard conversations with God, give careful inspection to see if you're actually talking with God.

And the good news is if we're not yet talking with God, or if we have replaced him, or we have stopped listening to the hard things that he wants to talk with us about, he is faithful and kind and patient, and we can trust that he will look at us the same way. That he will look at you, loving you and will share even hard things because of the love that he has for you.

God is telling us hard things all the time. We are just not always willing to listen. And so our response today is choosing to listen, and choosing to trust his love.

Put your heart in a posture of listening, of wanting to hear what God would say to you, even if it is difficult. Don't feel like just because he says something, you have to just take it and figure it out on your own. Continue that conversation with him. Ask him for help. With God, all things are possible.
And here's that question:

God, what's something that's hard for me to hear that you want to talk with me about?

Have a good talk.

And if you've been encouraged by this content, please share it with a friend and help them grow in their conversational relationship with God too!

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