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What's the worst that could happen?
Posted by Derrick
on
19:33
Remember a few years ago we had a run of adverts for Dr Pepper with the slogan "What's the worst that could happen?" following a series of (apparently) amusing situations. I was thinking about that the other day as I was reading through my Bible and came across some notes I had scribbled in the bank among the blank pages. As well as the number to text your questions to a group at Spring Harvest in 2008 (would the number still work one wonders?) I had a huge list of different Biblical characters and the things they did in situations where they must surely have worried about any answer to the question "what's the worst that could happen?"
It made me think that I hadn't ever been asked to do anything by God that would qualify me to ask that question. Sure, God has asked me to do many things and I have tried my best to do what he wanted but, as yet, none of them has been too difficult or onerous.
So what about the Bible. Sometimes people undersell the Bible in my opinion. I have heard preachers talk about miracles in a way that explains them away. Likewise, there are passages like 1 Kings 19:12
12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
This well-known verse is amazing and I truly love it. However, when it is preached on in my experience it seems inevitable that the moral will be "God doesn't do big things anymore, he will always talk in the small voice". That's hogwash. Sometimes I want to hear the still small voice of God but other times I want him to shout my name and give me a challenge that will make me think about what could happen!
The Bible is littered with examples of the men and women who took a bold step for God. Men and women who took steps that others would have laughed at them for. They were, if you like, fools for God. Let's have a look at some of them.
Noah decided to build a boat in the desert. He survived the great flood. Sarah was 990 years old when she said she was going to have a baby. She had a baby! Moses stood in front of the red sea with the army of Pharoah hot on his heels. He crossed the Red Sea. Joshua stood in front of the mighty walls of Jericho and marched round with nothing but trumpets. The walls fell.
David, the little shepherd boy, stood against the giant with nothing but a small sling and some pebbles. That giant fell. Mary sang in her beautiful song that she was going to be special. She became the most blessed of women. Peter stepped out of the boat and he walked on the water. A small boy with a couple of loaves and some fish trusted Jesus enough to share his food. Everybody was fed.
Jesus told his disciples that he would come back from the dead. He rose again on the third day and led us into the new life.
Paul and Silas sat in prison and sang songs of praise to God. They were set free and they brought more people to Christ!
You see, in all of these stories (and the others that abound in Scripture), there is one constant. God. He is forever constant, as he himself says in Malachi 3:6 "I the LORD do not change". What God commands us to do is done based on his judgement of our abilities. He knows what we are, what we could be and what we will be. He is the one who gives us all power and ability to achieve what He needs for the furtherance of his Kingdom.
One of my all-time favourite passages of scripture, and one which has sustained me on many occasions is from the book of Deuteronomy. In chapter 30, as Moses (the fool for God!) is saying goodbye, he shares this little nugget from God
11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
God never gives us more than he knows we can handle. He never gives us things to do that we cannot handle. He likes to push our limits, he likes to have us challenged but at the end he just wants us to trust him. After all, he is God and he is for us. When he asks us to do something, what's the worst that could happen?
It made me think that I hadn't ever been asked to do anything by God that would qualify me to ask that question. Sure, God has asked me to do many things and I have tried my best to do what he wanted but, as yet, none of them has been too difficult or onerous.
So what about the Bible. Sometimes people undersell the Bible in my opinion. I have heard preachers talk about miracles in a way that explains them away. Likewise, there are passages like 1 Kings 19:12
12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
This well-known verse is amazing and I truly love it. However, when it is preached on in my experience it seems inevitable that the moral will be "God doesn't do big things anymore, he will always talk in the small voice". That's hogwash. Sometimes I want to hear the still small voice of God but other times I want him to shout my name and give me a challenge that will make me think about what could happen!
The Bible is littered with examples of the men and women who took a bold step for God. Men and women who took steps that others would have laughed at them for. They were, if you like, fools for God. Let's have a look at some of them.
Noah decided to build a boat in the desert. He survived the great flood. Sarah was 990 years old when she said she was going to have a baby. She had a baby! Moses stood in front of the red sea with the army of Pharoah hot on his heels. He crossed the Red Sea. Joshua stood in front of the mighty walls of Jericho and marched round with nothing but trumpets. The walls fell.
David, the little shepherd boy, stood against the giant with nothing but a small sling and some pebbles. That giant fell. Mary sang in her beautiful song that she was going to be special. She became the most blessed of women. Peter stepped out of the boat and he walked on the water. A small boy with a couple of loaves and some fish trusted Jesus enough to share his food. Everybody was fed.
Jesus told his disciples that he would come back from the dead. He rose again on the third day and led us into the new life.
Paul and Silas sat in prison and sang songs of praise to God. They were set free and they brought more people to Christ!
You see, in all of these stories (and the others that abound in Scripture), there is one constant. God. He is forever constant, as he himself says in Malachi 3:6 "I the LORD do not change". What God commands us to do is done based on his judgement of our abilities. He knows what we are, what we could be and what we will be. He is the one who gives us all power and ability to achieve what He needs for the furtherance of his Kingdom.
One of my all-time favourite passages of scripture, and one which has sustained me on many occasions is from the book of Deuteronomy. In chapter 30, as Moses (the fool for God!) is saying goodbye, he shares this little nugget from God
11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
God never gives us more than he knows we can handle. He never gives us things to do that we cannot handle. He likes to push our limits, he likes to have us challenged but at the end he just wants us to trust him. After all, he is God and he is for us. When he asks us to do something, what's the worst that could happen?
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