Did anybody catch the beautiful rainbow in the sky yesterday afternoon? God’s wonderful promise that he will care for us. I did and was thankful for God’s reminder.
You have seen a few of Stephanie’s photos. The picture above is another one. She loves sunrise pics and this is another one, I think is so neat. It was only later I realized what she really captured. Read the following scripture:
Matthew 28:16-20
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Do you see it in Stephanie’s picture? I did. That is a photographic image found in God’s creation of Jesus’ assurance in the New Testament; similar to God’s assurance given to Noah, his family and all generations in the Old Testament.
You read that, of course, the disciples doubted that it was really Jesus when they first saw him on the mountain! Of course they doubted – didn’t Jesus himself, teach them for three years! Yes, yes…. but even as the chosen disciples, they remain human. They have times of doubt. I know, even at some of these pretty absurd moments we might judge. I would encourage us not to judge these folks as we are often so like them. Perhaps these occurrences are included in the Bible to reassure us today when we are so human as to doubt.
Have you seen this bit of reassurance from God’s world in Steph’s picture yet? It’s all there. Look at the tassels on those cornstalks – they form a triangle which represents the Holy Trinity – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. (It is not an equilateral triangle, but God does not want pettiness. It’s a good triangle!) And rising at the bottom is the sun, or to give it totally away I could spell it Son. If busy farmer Steph had stayed there longer and waited, I’m confident that the ‘sun’ would have risen brightly to the middle of Trinity symbolized by corn tassels and its light would have shown forth touching all sides of those framing tassels. I take this beautiful photo as an assurance to those of us who doubt. And whether you will admit to it or not, we surely do in our lives have those scary moments when we doubt.
Doubt is merely a bout of maybe one or more of many human emotions. Fear, anxiety, loneliness, shame, insecurity, depression, grief, lack of will, indecisiveness and I could go on and on. Pick the emotion that you know causes you to doubt most easily. Pray about that.
But know without a doubt, even when you may be mushing through a bout of doubt, Jesus says to you even today, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Remember even Jesus’ chosen disciples doubted but they returned and thanked our God and His son Jesus Christ for saving them yet again from their sidetracks on the journey. And let’s remember to continually gives thanks to that wonderful Holy Spirit that resides within us and is there to guide us.
The THREE IN ONE. God didn’t mind tripling down on us, His beloved. Praises to the Almighty for always seeing how we need reassurance and providing it for all time!
~Shauna Weil
A devotion provided on behalf of the GUMC devotion ministry.
A devotion provided on behalf of the GUMC devotion ministry.
PS The accompanying song is so gentle and beautiful – let it slip quietly into your soul.