One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Jesus’ promise that His followers will not only do what He had been doing but would do even greater things. The Apostle Paul captured some of that thought when he wrote that God is:
able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.
It’s a promise that believes in a bright future, confident that the things to come will be immeasurably greater than the things that have been.
Lately I’ve noticed that confidence in the future doesn’t come easy for everyone. Perhaps it’s an uncertain economy or a world that seems to be in constant motion and change. We start to imagine a future filled with lesser things and our confidence wavers. Last week I overhead one church leader remark:
I don’t even buy green bananas!
If you don’t believe tomorrow is coming there’s not much point in having a bunch of green bananas around. Only people with confidence in the future buy green bananas.
I am convinced that its time for the church to buy green bananas. Its time to not only believe but to proclaim that that the promise God made through the Prophet Jeremiah is true:
I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
A hope and a future – that sounds like a good time to buy green bananas!
What are the green bananas you might confidently buy?
As I sit in my office participating in a conference call and reading your blog about green bananas,I just want to say to the participants on this call: STOP!!! Can we not dwell on the negative, instead let's all buy green bananas.!!!!! Let believe in tomorrow and the promise we all share, but many people are in the same position as the person in your story are... without hope..without faith. thanks for sharing this story
ReplyDeleteAMEN Doug !!! AMEN AMEN AMEN
ReplyDeleteAt 29 years old I learned that the illness that had made my father very sick from numerous strokes was genetic, and I carried a possible 50/50 risk of also having the same genetic mutation. There are no treatments or cures for the disease, and less than 2000 people in the world have it. I had the difficult decision of deciding whether or not to be tested for this very rare neurodegenerative disorder or not. I ultimately put my faith in God to lead me to the right path and decided to be tested, in which I was positive. That was five years ago, and it's been an incredibly difficult journey, but I can honestly say that I am living life more fully and passionately than ever before because of the principle that...I don't buy green bananas anymore. Live for today, but have hope and faith for tomorrow.
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