Life Lessons with Dr. Steve Schell

John recorded this event to build our faith. He wanted us to know about a miracle Jesus performed that fulfilled a particular Old Testament prophecy about the Messiah. The prophets had said that when the Messiah comes, “the vats will overflow with new wine and oil” (Joel 2:24), and “the mountains will drip with sweet wine” (Am 9:13). And a miracle Jesus performed at a wedding in Cana proved He had the power to fulfill those prophecies. When John and the other five disciples who had accompanied Jesus to the wedding saw that miracle, they recognized it was a “sign,” and it caused them to believe even more deeply that Jesus was their promised Savior (Jn 2:11).

We aren’t animals. If we were, life would be much simpler. We’d go through each day controlled by our bodily appetites and instincts until the moment arrived when we died. And because we were animals, we would have no idea that we were dying, so we wouldn’t worry about it. Our focus would be on getting enough to eat, staying safe and occasionally reproducing the species. But being human makes things far more complicated.

After recognizing that Jesus knew things about him that only God could know, Nathanael immediately told Him that He was the promised Messiah. He said, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel” (v49), to which Jesus replied with a statement that must have stunned Nathanael. Basically He told him, “Because you believe in Me, someday you’ll rise from the dead and return to earth with Me to set up the kingdom of God.” By combining Jacob’s vision of a ladder lifted up to heaven (Ge 28:12) with Daniel’s vision of a heavenly Son of Man (Da 7:13-14), Jesus showed him a picture of the end of the age. Why would He do that, particularly with someone He just met? He looked more than 2,000 years into the future and took him straight to a vision of the last days. Why?

It only took two days for Jesus to gather the first five, and probably six, of the twelve apostles he would send out “into all the world” a few years later (Mk 16:15). Two days! How did such a special group of people meet Jesus in such a short period of time? Why were they all gathered there in one location? The answer, or course, is that they had come to the Jordan River to be baptized. They were part of a crowd of people who were doing all they knew how to do to draw closer to God. This wasn’t a random group; it was a gathering of people who were hungry for God and who were willing to act on that hunger.

Each of us has two names: the name our parents gave us and the name God gives us. If our parents took the time to listen to God when they named us, those two names may be the same. In that case our given name is prophetic. It reveals something about God’s plan for us. Whether or not the name our parents gave us holds such meaning, the name God calls us always does. That’s because He knows how He designed us in our mother’s womb. David saw this truth and declared it in worship. Listen:
“For You formed my inward parts, You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You. When I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth, Your eyes have seen my unformed substance, and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained [for me], when as of yet there was not one of them.” (Psa 139:13-16)

This has to be one of the psalms David wrote when he was an older man. He’s expressing the kind of insight that usually comes with age. He’s looking back on his life and realizing that he had simply played a part in a plan that God had determined before he was born. Before he drew his first breath, God knew the gifts and capacities he would need in order to fulfill what God was going to call him to do. In David’s case, he was going to be a warrior and a king, so God “wired” those abilities into him while he was developing in his mother’s womb.

The psalm reveals David’s humility. He’s acknowledging that everything he has accomplished was not because he had taken control of opportunities and willed himself to greatness, but because he had cooperated with God’s plan for him. In this psalm, he’s worshipping, not boasting; he’s marveling that God knew exactly who he would need to be, in order for him to do all He had planned for him to do, He’s giving the glory for an amazing life back to God. But what you and I need to realize when we read this psalm is that what was true for David is also true for us. What he discovered about God’s plan for his life we need to discover as well. We too have been “woven” in our mother’s womb with a plan in mind. We can ignore it, fight it or pursue it, but we can never change it.

It’s easy for some people to see their need for repentance. They’ve led wild lives. They’ve done all sorts of terrible things, so when it comes time to repent, they literally have a checklist of sins they need to start working their way through. “Lord, I’m sorry for this… and for this… and for this,” etc. But there are others who have a much more difficult time seeing their need for repentance. Sure, they’ve done some minor things wrong, and maybe their attitude hasn’t always been that great, but by comparison to a lot of other people, they’ve led very good lives.

Sometimes it seems God waits until the last possible minute to act. I’m sure that’s not true. I’m sure if I could see the situation from His perspective, I would realize He is acting at exactly the right moment, not a minute too soon, nor a minute too late. But since I can’t see things with His perfect knowledge, there are times I can feel myself growing frustrated with Him, wondering what He’s waiting for. And it’s at those moments that a real spiritual danger arises: I can become impatient with God. If I let my imagination run wild, I become filled with fear and can grow angry at God. I start questioning whether or not He cares that I’m suffering.

Those voices don’t go away. We don’t hear them occasionally when we start out, and then they cease as we mature. They keep nagging us every time we speak for God. They tell us we are inadequate before we speak and that we should be ashamed of something we said afterward. It’s literally part of the “cross” any believer will bear if he or she decides to step out and minister publicly for Jesus.

How do you know who to trust? How do you know which leader to follow? How do you know who really loves you? So many people say the right things, promise us the things we want to hear and even look right. They look strong, dynamic and sincere. They speak well, and you can’t miss the impressive intellect behind their words. And who among us has not followed such a person or given our heart to such a person only to discover that he or she was not who they appeared to be?

I don’t think anyone goes through life without experiencing events that make us ask the question, “Where was God?” We’ve all prayed prayers that seem to go unanswered. We’ve all observed suffering and evil that seem to go unopposed. But to be fair, we’d have to admit that we’ve also seen things that are beautiful and very good, and that there have been times our prayers were answered quickly and powerfully. Yet it’s the apparent failures and the darkness that seem to capture our attention. And whether we admit it or not, those things can shake our faith. They can make us question the goodness of God.