Articles
Connecting the Dots
"But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me . . . and I was rescued out of the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen" (2 Timothy 4:17-18, NASB). Recalling how the Lord had rescued him in the past, Paul trusted that the same God would continue to rescue him in the future.
Jesus once met a man who deeply impressed him--a Gentile with greater faith than any Jew He had ever known (Matthew 8:5-13). This centurion concluded that Jesus had the power to heal his servant without even having to be physically present. He reasoned that if he as a Roman army officer could get results when he gave orders to his men, so could Jesus in a parallel chain of command. Just as the centurion was empowered from above, so with Jesus. In using his own personal experience as the reference point in a new set of circumstances, he demonstrated transfer of learning. Creative thinking! Strong faith!
In contrast, Israel in the wilderness seemed to have collective amnesia. With each new crisis they complained instead of reasoning that if God had provided all their needs to date, He would continue to do so.
With Israel on the unbelief end of the spectrum, and Paul and the centurion on the opposite end, where are we? How convinced are we that God will take care of us today and tomorrow as He has throughout all our yesterdays? How it pleases our Father when we simply trust Him!
Adapted from an article published in the daily devotional guide Power for Today
