Jennifer Hildebrand

At our house, we like to debate on the “what if”s, so here's my current musing:

In the Bible (Matthew 8), when the disciples are in the boat with Jesus, the storm blows up, and Jesus is crashed out asleep in the back of the boat . . . WHAT IF they had not awakened Jesus? I know, they DID wake Him up and beg for His help, and then He DID use this opportunity to prove His power over all of creation, but is there more to be discovered in this passage?

Listen to Jesus' response in verse 26: “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” To me (again, purely opinion), this seems to imply that they would have been alright either way. It's as if He is saying, “What are you so scared of? The creator of the universe is right here with you? Just because you don't see me taking action at this very moment, doesn't mean I'm not still in control!”

It's just gotten me thinking, because I'm pretty quick to lose faith, too.

If you look at the wording in the Greek language here, the disciples are literally saying to Jesus, “we are being destroyed”. I feel like I've probably said the same thing a thousand times in my life: “Come on, God, are you just gonna let me sink? I'm scared! Aren't you going to fix this?!”

The Greek words used by Jesus in chastising the disciples at this moment are powerful and read like this: “cowards” and “little trusting”.

Is it possible that He had intended for them to just hold on tight and weather that storm; to believe they would somehow make it through the peril simply because the Son of God Himself was on board and confident enough to be able to nap through it?

How often do I lose faith simply because I cannot see Him fixing the problem right before my very eyes. Am I a coward before trials and just looking for an out? Maybe it should be enough that He is there with me.

(I need to write that again) Maybe it should be enough that He is there with me.

I'm so thankful He IS here, whether I see His hand at work right now, or whether I'll have to look back later to see the unmistakeable imprint of His power over my situation.

All the above musing comes down to this: I'm just really glad He's in the boat with me!

I love it when I stumble upon a good illustration!

No, seriously, I almost tripped over it this morning while I was finishing up my miles.

I'll be the first to admit that sometimes I can be a bit “complicated” (isn't that just a nice way of saying difficult and a little crazy?), so I always try to search for truth and understanding during my run/walks; to get into the creation and to get that inner dialogue going with God. Maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention this morning until this little bit of truth almost literally swept me off my feet:

I was about a block from home and there in the middle of the road was this gorgeous piece of thick, expensive-looking ceramic tile shattered into chunks. Well, being the frugal salvage-hound that I am, I feverishly began gathering pieces and thought out loud, “I could make something with this! I could take these broken pieces of tile, some wood, some grout, maybe a nice poly-coating and make a beautiful mosaic!” (Never mind the fact that I don't actually know how to do that yet, but c'mon, there's instructions online for everything, right?)

Apparently, someone else had left it there in the road, because it wasn't worth much to them all broken like that. It sure wouldn't be very useful the way it was. But, in that instant, all I saw was what it COULD be, so I had to pick it up and lug it home to begin the process.

A few steps later, the revelation came. And the message was simple and very clear:

“God sees potential in the broken pieces.”

Broken pieces – that's definitely me. I constantly bring Him all my baggage and my “what's wrong with me”s. But today I heard Him reply, “Hang in there. I'm doing something with this. And, trust me, it's gonna be beautiful.”

I love it! And it's just what I needed today, so I hope it serves you, too.

As for now, I have a date with e-how and their mosaics department. Pictures to follow . . . eventually.