Learning to Be Weak

Yes, indeed! I tell you, when you were younger, you put on your clothes and went where you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go. " John 21:18 (CJB) 

I do not like to take verses out of context, but I remember the first time this one popped into my head. My father had a botched operation and could not swallow for a month. I watched my sweet, kind, dad turn into a mad man before my very eyes, hitting nurses, cussing us out, and repeating over and over again, "I just want to go home." We finally had to restrain him much of the time and it was absolutely heartbreaking! That verse started coming into my head quite often after that because for the next four months, he constantly spoke only of going home, and had to go from hospital to nursing home in order to get better.

As a home health care aide, I work with people who are suffering because of illness or dementia and old age, and have learned that this is a common thing to hear, "I just want to go home." I have to dress these dear people, bath them, feed them, and do many other things that I will not speak of, but you get the idea. Do you think they like it that I have to do this? No! As hard as I may try to help people keep their dignity, many times I come home with hair missing, scratches, and bruises because people hate losing their ability to do things for themselves. They are not fighting me - they are fighting their loss of independence and control of their lives. After all, don't we spend most of our lives trying to be strong like the "world" tells us to?

The day will come when I will eventually be in this state, whether it be illness, old age, or perhaps the  possibility of prison or captivity of some sort. How will I handle it, I wonder? I pray I always remember what Paul said:

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
but he told me, "My grace is enough for you, for my power is brought to perfection in weakness." Therefore, I am very happy to boast about my weaknesses, in order that the Messiah's power will rest upon me. Yes, I am well pleased with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties endured on behalf of the Messiah; for it is when I am weak that I am strong.

Learning how to be weak is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I hope I get it right one day.

Peter Knew Messiah

Peter knew Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah and the Son of God:

Matthew 16:16 (CJB)
Shim'on Kefa [Peter] answered, "You are the Mashiach [Messiah],the Son of the living God."

When Peter denied Yeshua, he never said that Yeshua was not Messiah. He just denied being with Him. Peter kind of brushed these people off when they asked him about seeing him with Yeshua. He definitely tried to distanced himself from the Messiah. If he had denied Yeshua as the Son of God and Messiah, He would not have wept bitterly when the cock crowed. He would not have cared.

Yeshua kept Peter from falling when He prayed for him well in advance:

Luke 22:31-34 (ESV) 
 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”

After this happened, Peter's heart was broken and he repented. We can see that there is hope if we have denied Yeshua, or distanced ourself from Him. We need to quickly repent and ask Him to please forgive us. The good news is, He will!  If you are wondering about this, and your heart is breaking , you have not denied Yeshua as Messiah, but have probably made the same mistake Peter did. Please do not play games though. You may be in danger of honestly rejecting Him, so turn to Him (repent) right away, please!

Some have simply plain out rejected Yeshua in every way. This is a different matter completely. They have no trust in Him and do not acknowledge Him as Messiah in any way, shape or form. They have no relationship with Him and obviously never did! Peter knew Yeshua as Messiah and the Son of God. He knew Him, loved Him and served Him. Even more important...Yeshua knew and loved Peter!

You can read about Peter denying Yeshua in Matthew 26: 69-75

Lesson of the Lost Rings

One time I lost my wedding rings. It was just awful. The old boy was sooo upset and I was too, but not like he was. He is very sentimental.

We searched everywhere, but could not find them. It was Passover and the old boy is not a believer as I am, so I left for a Seder meal at my friend's house. My husband kept looking while I was gone but came up with nothing. He was so hurt, it broke my heart! As we lay down to go to sleep, He was very quiet and I felt so sad. I prayed fervently for the Lord to help me find those rings. I said, " Lord, if you could make a coin come out of a fish's mouth, surely you can find my rings -please?" I decided that He was my only hope and with that, I went to sleep.

The next morning, I went to throw a small plastic bag away that we had looked in several times. I thought that I would look one more time and lo and behold, the rings fell out!!! I yelled "HalleluYah!"  And my husband came running into the room and could not believe that those rings were found! We were absolutely stunned because we both knew we had looked in every crevice of that bag...why would they be in there anyway?

I am very thankful for this incident because I was totally weak in this matter. I had to rely on my Heavenly Father to help me. I also had to make the choice to trust Him no matter what happened. I felt peace when I put it in His hands. It was a good learning experience for me and I will remember it in the hard days ahead. I am thankful that it was His will for me to find those rings and He had mercy.

Peter exercised his faith when he stepped out of the boat. Yes, he was not perfect and made the mistake of taking his eyes off from Yeshua/Jesus and looked at the storm,  but Messiah had mercy on him and helped him get back up and walk on water!

I do not believe in "blab it and grab it" theology. I know it is HIS perfect will that must be done and He loves us and wants us to trust in Him. We must never stop believing and trusting in the Elohim that led His children through the wilderness and parted the sea! He has a good reason for the things He does and has all of the answers for every one of our needs.

We must be willing to step out of that boat and trust Him even when it looks like there is no hope! We may just be amazed at the wonderful way He does things for us. I have learned to thank Him no matter what, because His ways are not our ways and many times we do not understand them until much later on...down the road.

Keep on exercising your faith so it will stand strong in the hard days ahead!

~ You can read about Peter walking on water in Mathew 14, starting around verse 22.
~ You can read about the coin in the fish's mouth in Mathew 17 starting around verse 24