Remember Luke 7:10.25-30
Some of the people of Jerusalem were saying,
‘Isn’t this the man they want to kill?
And here he is, speaking freely,
and they have nothing to say to him!
….They would have arrested him then, but because his time had not yet come no one laid a hand on him.
Reflect Crisis
Crisis times are anxious times.
It may be loss of job or promotion, income, status, friend, lover, reputation or health.
It may be someone who is love sick or dying with the virus and we cannot even visit,
or a property we worked so hard to acquire gets stolen,
or an upcoming court case or fear of some upcoming event
or personal revenge for a wrong we’ve done in the past,
or the threat of a needy mind blown druggie or simply
nightmares arising from past crises.
For Jesus, his crises were about rejection of his message and his personal life threatening rejection before he was ready.
Many in Jerusalem were out to kill him and disperse his followers.
Jesus lived with constant danger of death, violence and cruelty from the high priest, scribes, Pharisees and their followers – clerics of his time!
What kept Jesus going in his time of danger was his trust in his Father c/f His agony in Gethsemene
He lived with a conviction that he was doing the right thing, his Father’s will and this included accepting a terrible death by crucifixion for us sinners.
Some crises can be avoided but others like this one had to be faced- ‘it was Jesus’ awesome frightening fate.
Day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment, he was moving closer to it
For us mental distress and stress, worry can lead to migraine headaches, arthritis, heart trouble, cystitis, colitis, backaches, ulcers, depression, digestive disorders and yes, even death.
The mental fatigue of days without peace and nights without sleep, can destroy the very fabric, and shorten the length, of our lives.
They can bring on a fatal disease of the heart and destroy our will to live.
That is why it is so important to release the regrets of yesterday and yester year.
Our fears of tomorrow can rob us of today – we have got to try for whatever peace you can muster today. What has not happened yet, try and leave it to God the Father.
Jesus in …Mt 6:34 advises us , ‘Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.’. Yes Jesus knew things !
His own day of reckoning was not so easily dismissed
A Story Death and worry
The Angel of Death was walking toward a city one morning and a passer by asked him,
“How many on your list today?’
Putting aside his sickle, consulting his scroll, he replied “I’m going to take 17 people,”
“That’s callous of you!” the man said. “That’s the way it is,” Death said. “That’s what I do.” The man hurried to the city to warn everyone he could about Death’s plan for the day.
Five hundred people died that day. As evening fell, he met Death again. “You told me you were only going to take 17 people,” the man said. “Why did 500 die?” “I kept my word,” The Angel of Death responded. “I took my 17, the rest were collateral damage – Worry took them!”
Prayer
Lord Jesus,
Keep us wise and real in my times of danger and imaginary trouble.
Help us discern the real dangers from imaginary ones.
Forgive my mistakes of yesterday and today,
Give me courage to forgive my enemies, and
Be with me tomorrow, whatever happens.
Amen
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