John 13:1-7 – Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.”
THEME OF THE DAY: FAITH WAITS. Imagine being seated on the floor looking at Jesus. He silently gets up, takes a towel, bowl of water, ties the towel around His waist, and begins washing the disciples’ feet. The thoughts racing through the minds of the disciples and ourselves would be, “What is He doing? The Master doing the lowest of domestic chores? This makes no sense.” And He continually makes the rounds, we still are scratching our heads trying to figure this moving scene. Then, he comes to Peter. Though we may not want to be the one breaking the eerie silence, Peter doesn’t mind. And Jesus quickly responds to Peter’s inquiry, not with the answer, but something completely opposite. He affirms what each of us already know. We don’t understand what He is doing. However, Jesus doesn’t leave us completely in the dark. He promises the disciples they will understand, but not immediately. And that my friends is the simplest and purest expression of faith; learning to wait upon God to make clear what our situations, circumstances, emotions and feelings make cloudy.
Living by faith demands learning to confidently, and with submission, wait upon God when we don’t understand the ways of God. And this is hard. We live in an instant world of fast everything. We want everything now and for the most part; the world provides it. That is disastrous to the spiritual life for it is opposite the life of faith. Faith trusts in God AND waits on God. He knows what He is doing in our lives and why He is doing it. We often grow impatient, even complain, when we cannot figure out what God is doing in our lives. We simply want to know and that right now. God doesn’t work on our time line. So instead of trying to figure out what God is doing in our lives, learn to rest in why He is doing what He is doing in our lives. That tough situation, circumstance, or trial is God working in us and He has already revealed the “why” of what He is doing in our lives; conformity to the image of the Lord Jesus. And faith will wait on the Lord to fulfill this work in us, even when we don’t understand His process.
Did Peter and the disciples learn the lesson Jesus taught them when He washed their feet? Yes. It was the lesson of humble, sacrificial, and inconvenient service. And though they didn’t wait long to get the lesson revealed, they still waited. And it will be true of us. God doesn’t always reveal His ways of working in us for that would require no faith. But He has revealed why He is at work in us and if we learn, by faith, to wait upon Him as an expectant child to a faithful parent, we will learn the lessons He has for us and become more like His Son in the process.
PRAYER: “Father, help me to learn to wait upon You by faith in what I cannot grasp by sight.”
QUOTE: “The lessons God teaches us are mostly not learned immediately.”