By Carl Medearis
Even Jesus trusted God with the results of his ministry. He famously said, “I can do nothing but what I see the Father doing.” He was humble, fully confident, and totally secure. And he was completely dependent on God.
Here’s one of my all-time favorite things about how Jesus operated: He would say something that confused or offended nearly everyone, and then he’d just keep going. No defense of his outrageous lines. No excuses. No overexplaining. Just a simple “Yep, that’s what I said.”
We see Jesus doing that constantly. Not worrying about the results. Not going out of his way to make people okay with him, not trying to convince people of the truth of what he was saying. Just being clear and faithful and leaving the results to his Father.
“Follow me,” Jesus said to a young man. “But I have to bury my dad,” the man said. “Let the dead bury the dead. You follow me,” Jesus responded.
“But I’m a professional fisherman,” said Peter. “But I will teach you to be fishers of men,” Jesus said.
It would be a fun exercise to list all the outrageous, sometimes funny, and other times sarcastic things Jesus said without any explanation. We could surely find a hundred or more recorded in the Gospels.
Only a secure person could do what Jesus did. I know that when I’m insecure, I over explain. I defend. I kick and fight and get mad and try to make others look dumb and myself look smart.
I can speak and leave the results to God only when I know that the whole world is in his hands, not mine. I’m not in control.
When we have total confidence in the sovereignty of a great and loving God who holds the universe together by his very breath, we can relax.
In every twenty-four-hour period, I take approximately eight hours off. Totally. No work. No thinking or planning or strategizing. No meetings, no writing, no speaking, no helping, no serving. No anything.
And guess what? Every single day, I wake up and not only are his mercies new every morning but the world didn’t implode. There is still air to breathe and water to drink and ground to put my feet on when I roll out of bed. God’s got this. He created us and sustains us. He holds everything together.
I’m constantly amazed at the reasons people give for not having important conversations. They hold back for fear they’ll be misunderstood or because they think they don’t know enough to share about Jesus. This is pride in disguise.
If you do this, you’re giving yourself too much credit for convincing others about Jesus. You’re not thinking enough of God, not trusting he’ll use you just as you are, with whatever words come from your mouth.
The best way for us to get over pride and insecurity is to allow ourselves to be moved by love and compassion, just as Jesus was. To focus on the other person. To speak out of a heart that genuinely cares. And then trust God to take care of the rest.
I’ve discovered that God is big. And that he likes using people like me. And you. We’re his surprise factor. We’re the small hidden thing that his Kingdom emerges from. The little stone that becomes a pearl in his hand. The yeast that spreads to the whole lump of dough. Small and insignificant, until we’re touched by God’s Spirit. Then watch out.
What do we do? What’s our part? We show up. We’re full of courage not because we are strong on our own but because we’re loved people. Loved by God, which in turn gives us the courage to love others. And that’s the very thing that drives out fear, pride, and insecurity.
What does God do? Everything else. And you can drop the “else” part. Even the things we do are by his power. He literally gives us breath. So we open our hearts, minds, and mouths to love and serve those around us, in his name, with his power. That’s it.
When you have a conversation, a good one, a tough one, one where you lay it all out, and then you drive home feeling stupid and insecure because you didn’t do this or that right, let it go. It’s God’s deal. Don’t be so intense. Chill a bit. Relax. God’s got you and your conversations and the other person and their future.
CARL MEDEARIS (@carlmedearis) is an international expert in Muslim-Christian relations and the author of several books, including 42 Seconds.
Taken from 42 Seconds: The Jesus Method for Everyday Interactions by Carl Medearis. Copyright © 2018. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
