Crosstraining 5.16.12

Read: 2 Kings 20:8-11

The Bible encourages us toward bold prayer and bold faith that believes all things are possible when we are in God’s will. The most dramatic example of this is in Joshua 10:1-15 when Joshua prays for the sun to stand still to help him win a military battle. But, God’s presence and His answer to prayer isn’t always that obvious. We’re all painfully aware of times when we beg God for His intervention, and our troubling or challenging circumstances seem to block our view of the sun. In fact, it’s when we most desperately need to see God’s faithfulness in our lives that we have trouble seeing Him directly. We need not lose heart. For those times, we can always strengthen our faith by noticing the shadows of Christ’s glory in our lives. In 2 Kings 20:8-11, King Hezekiah is sick and shut up in the palace. When he asks the prophet Isaiah for a sign to confirm that he will survive another 15 years, he focuses on the retreat of the sun’s shadow across the steps. Until we see Jesus face to face, our lives are to one degree or another always lived in shadow of death, brokenness and sin. (Psalm 23) That’s why one of the most important disciplines we can cultivate as Christ followers is the habit of grace-seeking. We should always be on the lookout for evidence of Jesus grace in our lives and the lives of others, the “shadows” that prove the presence of Christ. Perhaps it’s the simple graces of daily provision for ourselves. Perhaps it’s witnessing someone else’s rescue from a difficult situation. We can rejoice in these moments when the “sun stands still” and see Christ’s complete dominion over this world—and by implication his dominion over our own situation. The shadows always prove the sunshine.]]>