Shaking the head……

I’ve been doing a lot of that lately, especially since the present administration was voted into office. Or maybe it’s because we watch too much Fox News. But it seems with every passing week there is another story more absurd than the last one that causes me to shake my head. Last night’s was a legal immigrant who owns a diner and employs 70 workers wanting to expand and hire more but he CANNOT get a loan from any bank. The government gives bail out money and stimulus money to big bank and big businesses but will not in any way help a small business owner.

Or Arizona’s governor getting heat for trying to protect her state’s borders.
Then there is the National Health Care Bill. They’ve bankrupted Medicare, Social Security and they are going to take care of my health needs?
The list goes on and on and it all makes me shake my head in disbelief…this can’t be happening in this great land….shake my head in anger….how dare anyone take our rights away….in shame, in grief, in despair. Sometimes even in doubt. Maybe even in hopelessness. It’s all over. There’s no help for this one!

I think we all do it. Shake our heads. When an unexpected bill arrives, when someone fails to live up to their commitment, when we’ve let ourselves or others down, “
News of an illness, concerns in our own lives, our families or friends or even world events, natural disasters. We shake our heads expressing lots of different emotions.

The Bible mentions heads shaking.
Matthew 27:39
“Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God.”
The passersby shook their heads in ridicule, derision, taunting Him. Some shook their heads in triumph in His fall. You lost, we won. If you are the Son of God, come down from there, pull out the nails in the Cross and come down. Now is the time to prove yourself.
I wonder if some passed by shaking their heads in sadness and disappointment. “We thought you were going to establish a kingdom and free us from this wretched Roman Empire.” “We thought, we thought..”

And these words in this setting give me hope because He was the Son of God and IS the Son of God today. Because Christ crucified is the Power of God. So much more was going on that the passersby weren’t aware of. Christ was purchasing our salvation, the salvation for the whole world. This gives me hope. In all that we are personally going through I do want God to achieve His ultimate goal for and through us. He knows what He is doing. His timing is perfect. He will triumph and we will triumph with Him. As Dad always says, “The two minute warning has sounded, we are down by 2 touchdowns, things look bad, but we know who wins.” Jesus does. And that’s the team we’re on.

Shaking the Head

Dear Jesus, I have to confess that sometimes I have shaken my head even at You. Please forgive me. How could I after all you have gone through and done for me. Please give me your grace to catch a glimpse of your face, your smile today. Really that’s all I need to get through today. And not just get through but to get through with a song in my heart that lifts up Who you are. The Crucified and Risen Christ. Here’s my hand. I want to walk with you today.