Waiting and Trusting

“This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:29)
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. (John 6:35)
So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” (John 6:41)
"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (John 6:47-51)

John 6:35-59 is the "I am the bread of life" passage. As I read those verses this morning - such a familiar passage - I experienced it from the perspective of the hearers in the synagogue. What a hard message to understand! Taken at face value, anyone would think the man speaking those words was crazy! I asked myself if I would have been one of the ones that abandoned Jesus, thinking I was doing the right thing because, who in their right mind would believe such a thing!? Obviously, not all of his hearers turned away as a result of this teaching; there was that seed of faith that allowed them to continue walking the road with Jesus, listening, watching and learning from the Lord even though they didn't understand everything they were seeing and hearing. 

I thought through the 'rest of the story'. Those that continued to follow Jesus, even after hearing the words that day in the synagogue, walked with him through other teachings and experiences that were hard to understand but were also witnesses to the amazing miracles, to the day to day life of our Lord as he lovingly ministered to his people. I suppose they would have put those hard sayings on the 'back burner' hoping that, one day, they would understand.

Continuing to walk with Jesus led them through his suffering and death on the cross and the myriad of questions and doubts those days must have created in their minds; but it also led them to the glorious truth that Jesus was and is exactly who he claimed to be when he rose from the dead and walked among them again - teaching, eating with them, cooking for them, just being with them - in the flesh! Imagine being the disciples who encountered Jesus on the road to Emmaus and their eyes were opened to the true Bread of Life as the Lord blessed the bread he was invited to share with them. Then there were those followers who witnessed his ascension - I can't even imagine what that must have been like. I certainly would have been the one standing there with my mouth hanging open wondering what in the world had just happened! 

Prior to his ascension, Jesus' disciples had been instructed to wait for the power from on high. They gathered together to pray and wait not knowing exactly what they were waiting for or how long they would have to wait - more questions without the full understanding of Jesus' words and instructions. But then the Holy Spirit came on that first Pentecost and their minds were opened, their eyes and hearts and ears were opened. They got it! They KNEW deep down in the hearts that what Jesus said was true and their lack of understanding became knowledge. As a friend once said, they knew it down deep in their 'knower'.

We're not that different from those men and women 2000+ years ago. I asked myself this morning: What is it that the Lord is showing me today that I don't fully grasp? What am I being taught that doesn't make sense to me yet? I am walking a path where I don't see clearly where I'm being led. I'm in a season of new directions and new discoveries and even though I don't understand fully, I'm getting glimpses into what the Lord's purposes are and am learning new truths about who he is in my life and in the lives of others. I'm trusting that my time of fuller understanding is coming and in the meantime, I want to be prayerful and waiting - watching for the Holy Spirit as he reveals more of what the Lord has been preparing me for. It's certainly not as momentous an event as that first Pentecost, but I realized this morning that as we grow in our faith and are confronted with things we don't yet understand, we really are like those first disciples. We wonder what in the world is going on but keep on walking and waiting and watching and praying. The time will come when our minds and hearts will be opened to fuller understanding and a refreshed and renewed life in the power of the Spirit.