God is in the details

He does not miss a thing.

Listen to this podcast here:  https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/1de79482/god-is-in-the-...

In case you think God missed what happened to your child that night~                     

when you’re sure he must have fallen asleep the day your wife left you~                  

when you wake up in a cold sweat remembering the face of your abuser~               

when you look up to the sky and think ‘God, don’t you see my business is in trouble?’   

I have news for you.  God saw.  God yet sees.  And while some fellas like to excuse their oversight of the small things with ‘ah come on—I’m a big picture kinda’ guy’… God makes no excuses because he sees it all.  Every. Single. Detail.

We can see this clearly if we consider all of the details surrounding the events leading up to the wrongful arrest and then crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Seventy-two verses in this fourteenth chapter of Mark.  And because we know we are looking back at the last few days of Jesus’ life, we stand on holy ground.  As I pick up my Bible and reread these verses, a hushed reverence settles on me—I do not want to miss a beat, nor a heartbeat of our Lord.  

What do you notice about Mark’s rendering of the Last Supper?  “Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.

And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

And when it was evening, he came with the twelve. And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?” He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”

And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it.  And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”1  

What a stark contrast are the two dinners of Jesus and the disciples recorded in Mark 14!  In Bethany, an adoring Mary anoints Jesus with costly perfume.  At the Passover meal in Jerusalem, a cunning Judas remains committed to the evil he has set in motion, causing a somber mood around the table that night.

Perhaps you had not thought about it, but before the 13 recline at the table in the Upper Room that evening, Jesus has been at work behind the scenes.  He has arranged for the room to be readied—table set and the room cleared of leaven...[remember, it is Passover time. Observant Jews would not eat the celebratory meal in a non-Kosher setting-and even stricter at Passover or Pesach, still to this day]. Jesus has enacted the plan for the man to be carrying the jar of water--unusual for it to be a man rather than a woman, so the lone man with a jug of water would have been easy for Peter and John² to identify.

Why, these things did not just magically happen--of course, Jesus orchestrated the details!  Remember, his whereabouts had to be kept on the down-low as the Jewish leaders were looking to apprehend him. Because Jesus was in the details, this was to unfold on his timeline, not theirs.  Indeed, Jesus saw to every element, and without the disciples’ notice. 

So too it is in our lives.  God knows. God sees.  In our lives, God allows things to happen for a time and for a purpose. He knows what he is doing at all times. God knows all things, past, present and future, real and potential, and he knows them all at the same time. [staggering thought] He not only knows what was, and what is, he also knows what will be. More than that, he knows everything that could be but is not.³

And Paul reminds us that God works all things together for good to those who love him.⁴  As we are up close and personal with what God permitted Jesus to go through on our behalf, we see his great love for us.  Never has there been a love so great!  So while God does not cause bad things to happen in our lives—or those of our loved ones--we are reminded that nothing comes into our lives but what God has allowed it.  

One of my favorite recollections of God being in the details and causing good to come from evil is that of Joseph and his brothers.⁵ You see, only God can take what was meant for evil and turn it for good.⁶

From my heart to yours, here is an invitation to trust the Lord with all your heart⁷—even your broken heart. that means, you can entrust to him all the things in your heart, all the details you are worrying about, and the people you hold dearest in your heart as well.  He is God. And He. Is. Good.

God is in this story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83lLHqxi1-8

I love him so,

Christine

PastorWoman.net

1 – Mark 14.10-26                                                                                                                           

2 – Luke 22.8                                                                                                                        

3 – fantastic little piece out of the tiny island country of Anguilla: https://theanguillian.com/2016/05/positive-living-god-sees-hears-an...        

4 – Romans 8.28                                                                                                                             

5 – Genesis 37-50                                                                                                                                  

6 – Genesis 50.20                                                                                                                              

7 – Proverbs 3.5