Nic at Night

I have spoken to you of earthly things and you did not believe; how then will you believe of heavenly things? John 3:12

This verse presented an aha moment recently. In context, Jesus attempted to answer questions posed by Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. His statements confused the Pharisee. Jesus used natural situations to explain spiritual concepts, but Nicodemus couldn’t grasp the analogies. The Lord addressed a question I've wrestled with through this verse.

I’ve struggled to believe that God cares for the practical issues of my life: trade the market and not lose my shirt; deal with financial reversals; what to do with cars that need to be repaired/replaced; and so forth. The world contains about six billion people all with issues and conflicts that demand His attention. Do the nuts and bolts of my daily life really matter to Him? With this scripture, He confirmed that they do.

I found in Jesus’ statement a correlation between the ability to grasp heavenly concepts based on faith and confidence in God for the down and dirty everyday life things. God works in our lives as a means to train us for progressively greater levels of spiritual sensitivity. I realized that my lack of faith in Him for the natural issues of life hindered my ability to believe for the supernatural. In my mind they were separate entities; things here-and-now and things eternal. When compared to spiritual matters I considered the routine details of life trivial. Now I realize, life on earth is where we are trained to reign. My experiences here are meant to expand my ability to understand God’s goodness and how He works. The more I look for His help in the little mundane things, the better prepared I am to handle the big challenges that are sure to come.

I see this principle at work in the life of David. How could a young shepherd without a military background fearless take on Goliath the giant, a season warrior, and win? David learned to depend on God first while he cared for his father’s sheep. Goliath was just another enemy to dispose of. With such a big target, how could he miss? The lion and the bear were practice runs for Goliath, who was a dress rehearsal for battles against enemy armies. David’s faith and reliance on God for the routine aspects of life gave him a deeper revelation of God’s character. 

I feel a bit like “Nic at Night”. I wrestle with the concept that God's as interested in my day to day issues as He is with my spiritual growth and development. They're intertwined in ways I never considered. I am again gently reminded how much I really don’t know about my God. I’m glad I’ll have all eternity to figure it out. I’m going to need it.

photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gnmcauley/3625753704/">Niall McAuley</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>