Hi, my name is Alisha, and I tend to do a bit of complaining… multiple times over…. well, more times than I can count. I know that there are times that might warrant a complaint or two, but would any complaint really change a situation? I’m leaning towards that answer being a big no, but that doesn’t seem to stop us from voicing a complaint now and then, right?
It’s been a whirlwind of a year, and it’s difficult to believe that it’s nearly over. We’ve had some bumps in the road and had some shocks to the system, but even in the rough times, there’s been so much to give thanks for. We’re still in a rental that we’re starting to feel some growing pains in, work has continued to be much more sporadic than we like, and we’ve experienced the sting of death. There have definitely been some moments that complaints seemed appropriate.
The woman at the well (John 4:1-42), didn’t seem to have many positive things to say about the life she was living, and even had a few snarky comments that she threw at Jesus during their encounter. She seemed to be holding a half-empty glass. I’m not so sure that I’m a glass-half-full kind of person. Most of the time I find that I’m just thankful to have a glass, but digging in deeper to discovering more and more about my Savior has helped me look at the situations in my life through a different lens.
As I started prepping for Thanksgiving this year, I was overcome with a sense of gratitude. In the dining room sat 3 of our kiddos, concentrating on their schoolwork, our toddler who wanted to help me cook was trying to press buttons and turn knobs on the oven, and I had fresh pictures of my 2 very healthy and happy grandsons. The mulch-covered garden was finally getting rain, we were cozy inside staying warm and dry, and I was spending my favorite holiday with some of my favorite people.
We have so many things to be thankful for that I’m not sure they could ever be listed. As I pondered that for a few, I couldn’t help but think of the passage that refers to all of the things Jesus did:
And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if they were written one by one, I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written. John 21:25 HCS
I always thought this verse to more poetic than anything, but now I wonder if it was also a bit prophetic. If you think about it, Jesus did so much more than we can fathom just by being born into the human race. His birth changed everything! His death changed everything! And His resurrection changed – you guessed it – everything! All because He was and is and is to come, we have the opportunity to be changed. We get to be some of the miracles that Jesus did.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created. Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men. John 1:1-4 HCS
Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit… all the same. They are the Three-in-One. The 2 humans they created, born in His image, were deceived and took home the prize of having to deal with a sin-nature and separation from God – and then they passed it on to everyone else. No one would be able to have fellowship with God without a blood sacrifice (you can read more about those in Leviticus). Not a single person on earth could be found to stand in the gap and fix it, so God-Jesus-Spirit made a way for us by doing it Himself (Isaiah 59:16).
He left the comforts and glory of Heaven to become a man. He limited Himself to a human form and had to grow in wisdom and favor with God the Father (Luke 2:52). Can you imagine experiencing tiredness for the first time? Hunger? Thirst? Becoming dirty from everyday living? And He faced temptation. What kind of stupidity the devil must possess to think He could deceive God (I’m literally laughing at the thought)!
He went about doing good and healed all who were sick and oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:38). He didn’t turn someone away or tell them their staying sick or broken would bring God glory (Matthew 4:23, Matthew 8:16, Matthew 14:14, Luke 4:40). He. Healed. All. Some might say that God (the Father) is different that Jesus (the Son), but they are one in the same. Jesus wasn’t going about doing anything that wasn’t what the Father wanted (John 5:19-23).
And then He took our sin-nature and everything that separated us from God to the cross. He provided restoration of our relationship in the ultimate blood sacrifice that only needed to be offered 1 time for all people that would ever exist (Hebrews 10:8-14). This is the pivotal point for all of mankind: our relationship has been restored, and all we have to do is say yes.
Because of Jesus, I’m not living in religion, but instead I’m experiencing the reality of relationship. I’m not struggling to do more good things or be a better person, but the fruit is a natural by-product of my relationship with Him. The fruit will only show the condition of the roots, and because of Jesus, we now have the ability to have the Holy Spirit taking us step-by-step through life.
Some might say that I attribute too much to Jesus. I’ve even heard it said that I worship Jesus and have set Him up as a type of idol. But I don’t think I could ever thank Him or worship Him enough for what He did for me. And who am I to not worship God, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords? Why would I ever stay silent?
The woman at the well recognized that there was love and grace shown to her, by the One who had every right to condemn and shun. What did she do? She had to shout it out to everyone she came in contact with. She was seeing life through a new lens and couldn’t stay silent. Maybe she recognized that she was one of Jesus’ miracles.
Even her lens, though, is not as good as the lens we have available to see life through. Her lens was probably what we think of as rose-colored lenses. She did seem to forget the fact that He was a Jew, and they weren’t supposed to get along. But the lens available to us are a bit more scarlet: we get the blood-colored lenses.
We get to see everything we face in this world through the blood of Jesus. We get to approach all the obstacles, uncertainties, and setbacks through the crimson-shaded blood of Jesus. What situations could possibly warrant complaints of any kind when viewed through the lens of His sacrifice? What areas can we complain about when we start seeing that our faith in Him is one of His miracles?