A God is Bigger Than…Devotional

by Karen Tripp MS  Speaker, Author, Counselor

Last week we sold our 1998 Isuzu Rodeo on Craig’s list.  The car left our care with such features as a dented bumper, broken taillight and some mystery fluid dripping from the front end.  Craig’s list is this amazing website where you can buy or sell practically anything.  The toughest part about the listing process was deciding on a price.  How much is a really used Isuzu Rodeo actually worth?

 The answer is- what ever someone will pay for it. I can say it’s worth a million dollars but if I can only sell it for ten dollars, it’s really only worth 10 dollars.  It’s difficult when we let someone else decide the value of something important in our lives. 

Think for a minute about the value of the important things in your life.  Take your faith. The cost of Jesus paying for your sins is priceless.  We understand this as believers but it’s much harder for unbelievers to understand the pricelessness of Christ.  But actually, it’s difficult to understand any priceless gift, especially if it’s undeserved. 

 Let’s say that someone you barely know gives you an extravagant gift and you decide to share the joy of this gift with others. It might go like this:

“Hey look, I got this priceless gift.”

“Really, who did you get it from?”

“A guy I’m just now getting to know.”

“What did you do to deserve the gift?

“Nothing.”

“Why did He give it to you?”

“Because He thinks I’m worth it.”

“You know, this is pretty hard to believe.”

“Well, I have great news.  He wants to give you a priceless gift too!”

“Yeah, right.”

People are skeptical of priceless gifts.  They may bring up Christians acting unchrist-like or all the suffering in the world.  How do their doubt impact your faith?  Will you let another person’s views decide the value of your faith?  

Most of us would say “no, of course not,”  And yet…if we believe in the value of our faith, why aren’t we sharing it with others?  Are we afraid of other people’s doubts? People say they don’t talk about their faith because they don’t know what to say but I think it’s more that they don’t know what to think if they’re rejected.

Talking to unbelievers challenges our faith.  As Christians we know there is evil in the world, we know there are Christians that embarrass us and we know Christ doesn’t promise a life without suffering and yet we still believe. But when these issues come out of someone else’s mouth, especially someone we love, we have to refortify ourselves in our beliefs. We have to remember that we know the price that was paid for us on the cross whether they understand it or not.

Don’t put your faith out on Craig’s List where the highest bidder sets the price.  The grace Christ bought you on the cross is truly priceless whether everyone agrees with you or no one at all.

I hate matching socks.  Actually, it’s not matching socks that makes me crazy it’s all the unmatched socks.  Where do all the lost socks go?  I don’t think my cats eat them and my husband assures me that they do not disintegrate in the washer.  My only answer is that they are lost.  The strange thing is that I keep a basket full of unmatched socks just in case a lost sock turns up.  Why?  Because I am hopeful.  My unmatched sock basket is a sign of hope.

There is something about loosing things that makes us a little nuts.  Whether it’s a ring, a car key or an old sock, we stop what ever we are doing and search.  The more valuable the item, the more we search.  When we find it, joy, confidence and piece of mind are restored.  It feels good to find lost things. 

Jesus is an expert at finding the lost.  Why? Because nothing is as valuable to Jesus as a lost person.  In Luke 15, Jesus tells three stories about recovering a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost son.   The thing that stands out to me in each of these stories is the hope.  Each person never gave up hope that the lost would be found.  Praise God that Jesus NEVER gives up hope that the lost people in this world will return home to His loving arms.

I wish the same could be said of each of us.  We all know someone who is lost.  It could be they believe faith is for the unintelligent or simple minded.  Or maybe the person you know believed in Jesus as a child but now they think there are lots of ways to God.  Or perhaps you are watching someone slowly slip away into a life of self absorption and despair.  Each of these are frightening paths lost people take to move away from Christ. 

So what do we do for the people we know who are lost?  We begin to pray and lift them up the best way we know how. But a month goes by or a year or even a decade and we still see them walking away from Jesus.  At some point, our hope may begins to dry up.  It’s easy to think things like “Nothing can make them see the truth.” or “It’s better for me if I just quit hoping for them to change.”   In our humanness we pray a little less, reach out a little less and believe a little less that the lost person will ever be found.  We become discouraged.

Thankfully, God is bigger than our discouragement.  By placing our hope in Jesus, we know that He will never waiver in His desire to reach each lost person.  So we must focus on Jesus’ strength and faithfulness in His search for the lost and His abundant joy when each lost person is found.  Pray for the lost people in your life with the celebration in mind.  Know that you will be rejoicing with all of heaven when your loved one returns home to Christ.

So hang on to your hope.  Just like you hang on to your unmatched socks…so you’ll be ready to celebrate when that lost one is finally found.

Karen Tripp MS                                         Speaker, Author, Counselor

Lay Pastors Ministry, Inc presents the 2010 International Conference: creating a Caring Community April 23-24 at Christ Memorial Church St Louis, MO.  Karen Tripp will be presenting a workshop entitled God is Bigger Than Your Grief.    To register or for more information, call 609-261-0904.