Finding Jesus Outside of Sunday School Stories …

To preface, these are my ministry hosts from Peru, Tim and Holly Anderson. I grew so much under their discipleship and will miss them beyond comprehension. I hope that you are able to take these truths to heart. Tim and Holly, I love you both and miss you. It will be a great reunion someday when we meet again. -Philip Wilson

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Maybe some of you were like me and learned the Bible from those key 15 – 30 Highpoint Bible stories learn in Sunday School…you know the cool ones like Daniel in the Lion’s Den, Noah’s Ark, David and Galioth, Peter walking on water, and of course the Crucifixion, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus.
I was so very blessed that my parents cared enough to set a strong biblical foundation for my sister and I who are now both missionaries outside of North America.
But I believe that if we are not careful there can be a disconnect between these impressive Bible stories and our everyday life. At some point these stories have to have a relevent tie-in to what we see in front of us right now… The plumbing pipe breaking, having to take the dog to the vet, and not seeing how our paycheck will last till the end of the month.
One of these margin stories can be found in mark chapter 8 where Jesus and his followers are stuck in a boat without any food…well just one roll. This little nugget of truth is sandwiched between the massive feeding of the 5000 in Mark chapter 6, the feeding of the 4000 in the beginning of Mark 8 and the Transfiguration in Mark chapter 9.
In this small snapshot of real life we see the same Jesus who has the authority to speak the entire world into creation, the same Jesus who can speak a few words and the winds and the waves obey, the same Jesus who just created something out of nothing for the over 5000 hungry listeners (probably actually 15,000 with women and children) then did it again with 4,000 hungry more (probably 12,000 with women and children) miraculously multiplying meager amounts of food into abundance… stuck in a boat (or modern day van) with a couple of grumpy guys and gals on a road trip where the logistics person did not bring any food and no one else thought far enough ahead to even throw some trail mix in their backpack.

Who hasn’t been there before, it sounds like College all over again, or every single men’s retreat I’ve been on, or a world race Gap year bus trip from Ecuador to Peru 🙂
I mean let’s be real, these are the annoying unimportant parts of life. These are the uneventful spaces between those great Mountain Top experiences that we have in Christianity. This is the expance between the big Bible stories that we try to avoid at all cost always looking around the corner for the time when we will be involved in something amazing, something bigger than ourselves, and something that’s worth writing a story about. But I find it very interesting that in this tedious real life space Jesus drops a bomb of Truth that will set Our Lives Ablaze. It is here that Jesus gives us a direct connection between those miraculous memorable stories and our everyday lives. In verse 14 of Mark Chapter 8 the curtain lifts and we see at least 13 tired sweaty grumpy guys who need a shower and a hearty steak and potato dinner with a large slice of apple pie after many long days of back-to-back Ministry. This was the car ride home from a spiritual emphasis camp; our weekend or ministry event where everyone just wants to get back home, put in their ear buds, sleep in their own bed… and not talk to anyone else. But of course tempers flare In This Moment when they realize there’s no food…and so they begin to argue. It is here that we find Jesus kindly taking them through the events of the last few days. He ‘annoyingly’ asks them a series of simple questions in this moment of great irritability. Verse 17 goes down like this, “Jesus knew what they were saying, arguing about, so he said. Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don’t you know or understand even yet? Are your heart’s too hard to take it in? Verse 18 you have eyes, can’t you see? You have ears, Can’t you hear? Don’t you remember anything at all? Verse 19 when I fed the 5000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterwards? And the disciples replied 12. Verse 20 and when I fed the 4000 with seven loaves how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up? 7 they replied.”

Here Jesus is reminding his friends of the mountain top experiences they had just had and in those moments he had been the God who creates something out of nothing and creates so much that there is abundance for not only them but everyone else.
These guys had just seen Jesus Christ create food out of nothing yet here they are in a boat with only one loaf of bread between them and they are grumpy and they are doubting.
Guys and gals!…Serously? Come on!
They had just seen Jesus create food for over 9000 people (more accurately over 30,000) and yet a few days later they’re on a boat wondering what to do about supper. If I was Jesus in this moment I think I would have taken that one loaf of bread like a baseball bat and smacked somebody out of the boat. I mean really, how much more could he have done then show them with their own eyes that he was the God of provision just a week before?
Well the truth is, if I’m honest, I can see myself sitting in that boat and being one of the grumpiest, dirtiest, tiredest, and most frustrated of all. There have been many times in my life where after Jesus does something miraculous, I found myself in the pit of despair doubting that he actually loves me, cares for me, and will provide for my basic everyday needs. This is where the story ties into my life and yours…this is where the rubber meets the road. Jesus ends this cross-section of real life in verse 21 where he takes a critical pause and then says to all the guys in the boat, looking through his eyes of great compassion, and seeing their humanity, while accepting them just as they are…warts and all, “Don’t you understand yet?” And my response and your response to this question must be the same, “Jesus I do trust you even when I don’t see how… because you are the God who creates something out of nothing. You are the God who can open doors for me when none exist. You are the God who sees clearly the direction that life is going to take even though I cannot. And because of that, on my off days I can look Jesus straight in the eyes and say, ‘Yes I do trust you’ even when the way is not clear, even when I don’t understand, but ‘yes I do trust you today’. And even if we have to say that over and over and over on a daily basis working through those feelings of uncertainty, cloudiness, and wanting clarity but having only trust…It is very much ok. Because we put our trust in the One who said “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
So if you find yourself today in between those monumental stories, those places where you desperately want to be seen in…and be a part of, and you find yourself instead in those middle spaces that have more pause and more questions than answers, Take Courage. The Creator of all the universe and the same Jesus who spoke a few words and calmed the rough seas and the violent winds can do the same in your heart and today you can walk in peace by simply answering the question “do you get it yet?” with Yes, today I do trust you Jesus.

It has been an absolute blessing to host this Gap year guys team in our home at the Blue Castle ministry house in Cusco Peru. We are absolutely Blown Away with how the Spirit is working in each of their lives and we are in prayer daily for them and bless them in the places and spaces of life that God has next.
Much Love Tim & Holly Anderson