[On a side note...one of my many odd obsessions applies to the condition of my books, where it literally causes internal pain when any crease, bend or mark alters their perfection....but I'm proud to say that I'm slowly overcoming this strange phobia for ease of referencing quotes/pages of interest]
"The woman said to Him, 'Sir, You have nothing to draw [water] with, and the well is deep.'"
- John 4:11
"Have you ever said to yourself, 'I am impressed with the wonderful truths of God's Word, but he can't really expect me to live up to that and work all those dtails into my life!' When it comes to confronting Jesus Christ on the basis of His qualities and abilities, our attitudes reflect religious superiority. We think His ideals are lofty and they impress us, but we believe He is not in touch with reality - that what he says cannot actually be done. Each of us thinks this about Jesus in one area of our life or another. These doubts or misgivings about Jesus begin as we consider questions that divert our focus away from God. While we talk of our dealings with Him, others ask us, 'Where are you going to get enough money to live? How will you live and who will take care of you?' Or our misgivings begin within ourselves when we tell Jesus that our circumstances are just a little too difficult for Him. We say, 'It's easy to say, "Trust in the Lord," but a person has to live; and besides, Jesus has nothing with which to draw water - no means to be able to give us these things.' And beweare of exhibiting religious deceit by saying, 'Oh, I have no misgivings about Jesus, only misgivings about myself.' If we are honest, we will admit that we never have misgivings or doubts about ourselves, because we know exactly what we are capable or incapable of doing. But we do have misgivings about Jesus. And our pride is hurt even at the thought that He can do what we can't.
My misgivings arise from the fact that I search within to find how He will do what He says. My doubts spring from the depths of my own inferiority. If I detect these misgivings in myself, I should bring them into the light and confess them openly - 'Lord, I have had misgivings about You. I have not believed in Your abilities, but only my own. And I have not believed in Your almighty power apart from my finite understanding of it.'"Wow. How many times have I said this! "Oh, I don't doubt Jesus....I doubt myself." Ugh! What a load of crap! And God is just so amazing; He really wanted to drill this point through my thick skull today because after reading that this morning, I read Acts chapters 3-4 this evening. In these chapters, the apostles Peter and John performed a miracle in the name of Jesus Christ by healing a crippled man outside the temple. Then later the believers prayed, "...enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus"....and after they prayed "they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly" (4:29-31).
Okay, Kate, where are you going with this?! Well, how many times have we limited God because of our own incompetence? Even today, I don't give God enough credit to heal my wounds and answer my prayers, let alone use me to perform a miracle! But why not?! Peter and John did it! Over and over the Bible tells us to pray and we shall recieve, but we are a society of doubting Thomases. Lord, give us faith although we cannot see. Enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness and perform miraculous signs and wonders in Your Name. Amen.
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