Listen

“I assure you that we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but you don’t receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Human One. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so must the Human One be lifted up so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.”

John 3:11-15

Think

Since we can’t always understand the work of God and can’t always be in control, we have to trust. But in whom do we place our trust? As Jesus tells Nicodemus, our trust must be in him, the only person who has gone up to heaven and also came down from heaven.

Remember in Luke, where it says, “I assure you that whoever doesn’t welcome God’s kingdom like a child will never enter it” (Luke 18:17)? We are to trust God like a child trusts. A child knows that their caregiver will provide for them, even if they don’t know how or why. Like children, we can know that Jesus will provide for us.

This kind of trust can be difficult to give, but in being born anew we see that Jesus will always be trustworthy as he seeks to build God’s kingdom.

Kristen Pope

Pray

God of trust and wisdom, ease my mind and lighten my heart as I learn to trust in you and your Son. Like a child, I want to rely on you fully for all that I need, and that is hard. Wrap your arms around me as I lean into you fully. Amen.

Go

Allow yourself to be open to the Spirit’s work in your heart.

Get comfortable with not knowing all the answers, placing your trust in God.

Go forth, born anew in the promise of God’s unconditional love.