Short Legs? No Problem!

John 16: 12 I still have many things to say to you but you cannot bear them now

Her face looked annoyed and she seemed handicapped as she walked quickly down the road. I soon saw why she was moving so clumsily. She was dragging a small boy behind her. The crying child was taking giant steps to keep up with her and the only reason he didn’t fall flat on his face was that she was holding on to his hand. “Walk up no Bwoy!”, she shouted at him as he stumbled along. The picture came back to me as I thought about today’s text.

When you read John chapters 14 – 16, you see where Jesus had been saying a lot of things to His disciples. He told them that he was going away and would have to leave them, but that He would come back for them one day. He also explained that they would have to continue the work that He had started, but that He would send the Holy Spirit to guide and support them. He talked of challenges and persecutions that they would meet and of the great work that they would accomplish. All this must have sounded strange to these simple fishermen who had never travelled far from their hometown and had no great education to do a worldwide work. Then Jesus told them, “I have many other things that I need to tell you but you cannot bear them now”.

I love how kind and patient Jesus is. He knew that his disciples were confused and disturbed that He was His going away and they had to do so much without Him being around. They were also expecting Him to set up a great kingdom on Earth and restoring the Jews to being a powerful nation. They had so much to think about. To tell them more now would further confuse them and leave them deeply discouraged. God leads His children only as fast as they can walk.

Thank God for His patience. There is so much that we have to learn as we try to follow Him. We are told that we need to grow in His grace; that we must gain greater knowledge daily, but He knows that we are human. He knows our weaknesses, the baggage we carry, and how slowly we learn some things. But if we choose to walk with Him He will be patient with us and each of us can learn at our own pace as God leads us along.

Dear Lord, thank You for Your patience with me. Help me to learn what I need to know as I follow you today, in Jesus’ name, amen.