Strengthening Your Spirit for a Season of Shaking and Pruning

The God of the Cross

Jesus then spoke comfort straight to the disciples’ hearts, “Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in Me” (John 14:1). He recognized the sincerity of their faith in God. They had witnessed His signs and wonders. Their faith was sincere, yet He was wanting to form something deeper. They believed in a theoretical concept of God, but could they believe in the God of Jesus, even when that belief involved an unjust trial by night and a cruel Roman cross? Their view of God was about to be challenged in the person of Jesus. Their idealistic views of triumphalism without pain would be washed away with the stain of Messiah’s blood on a crossbeam, nails, and dirt. It is one thing to believe in God when all is prosperous. It is quite another thing to believe in God when the promises look shattered and Messiah hangs limp between two thieves. Saul of Tarsus stumbled over this very aspect of God’s nature. Saul had no room in his theology for a suffering and dying Messiah. Remember Saul’s conversion experience.

“He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’ He said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ The Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads'” (Acts 9:4-5).

“But the Lord said to him, ‘Go your way. For this man is a chosen vessel of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the sons of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake‘” (Acts 9:15-16, emphasis added).

Do we have a view of God that allows for the crucifixion of His beloved Son? The disciples are headed into an intense three-day period where their Messiah will die and Jesus will be seen no more. Jesus prepares His disciples for the season of shaking and pruning by focusing the disciples upon Himself and calling them to faith. The time of trouble when Jesus is the least visible is the time to trust Jesus like never before. Later, the disciples would call the early church to do the same.

Most of us will go through two to three bone-crushing events where our victory in Jesus is unseen, the promises seem shattered, and the signs of His presence are gone. Jesus reminds us in these times, Let not your hearts be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. The time when Jesus seems the most absent and the tempter whispers in your ear to give up, is the time to trust Him like never before. Jesus cuts to the core of faith. In the moment when the promises seem dead and Calvary comes your way, believe! Believe in the God of Jesus who raises the promise and gives life to the dead.

Question: When have you had no choice but to believe in the God of Jesus Christ? {eoa}