John Brackenbury spoke this morning about recognising God from inside our bubbles, specifically mentioning several ‘bubbles’ which can leave us feeling confused and unable to recognise God because of particular circumstances which are disconnecting us from Him.
- The Bubble of Hopelessness
The man who had been paralysed for 38 years (John 5:1-15) was in a bubble of hopelessness, unable – even when asked by Jesus if he wanted to get well – to see beyond his inability to get into the pool for healing. He hadn’t heard about Jesus (despite His fame) and was locked into a sense that nothing would ever change. So often, that can be how we are, but this bubble was burst by Jesus’s words to him and by his trust and obedience. Hopelessness doesn’t have to have the last word.
2. The Bubble of Adversity
In Matt 14:24-33 we see the disciples in the boat facing a storm. Jesus was elsewhere, praying, and the boisterous waves and winds soon left the disciples, experienced sailors though they were, in a panic. They did not recognise Jesus initially when He came to them, thinking He was a ghost, but Peter responded to Jesus’s words of reassurance by getting out of the boat and walking towards Him. He only started to sink when he took his eyes off Jesus. Peter’s willingness to surrender to Jesus led to new adventures – and ultimately to the cessation of the storm.
3. The Bubble of Sorrow
In John 20:11-18, we see Mary Magdalene so dazed by sorrow that she did not recognise Jesus when she met Him at the tomb. Peter and John had already been to the tomb, but had returned home. Mary was so overwhelmed by sorrow that she could not do that; she kept looking into the tomb in despair. Her sorrow was so intense that she did not recognise Jesus until He spoke her name – and then this sorrowful, sobbing servant was changed to one who went back to the others to proclaim the news of the resurrection with joy and confidence. The bubble of sorrow can be burst by listening to the Shepherd’s voice (see John 10:3-5).
4. The Bubble of Disappointment
The two disciples who met with Jesus on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) did not recognise Jesus, even though they later acknowledged the power of His words as they had walked and talked. They had had high hopes of what God would do through Jesus, but were locked in the disappointment of the crucifixion and could not imagine how God could turn their disappointment into hope. We too can often be confused and hurt by life, unable to understand God’s ways, only able to evaluate situations with fallible minds that see an incomplete picture, but as we ponder Jesus’s sacrifice for us, we are reminded that God knows everything and is in control of every situation. The bubble of disappointment is burst by remembering Jesus’s sacrifice for us.
5. The Bubble of Regret
Peter was so traumatised by his denial of Jesus that even after the resurrection, his only solution was to return to fishing and to the familiar. (John 21:1-22) Here, he discovered he could no longer even catch fish. The disciples, worn out after a long night’s fruitless labour, were hailed by Jesus from the shore, but they did not fully recognise Him. When they did, Peter the impetuous went running to Him, but still needed reassurance that his failure was not the end of the story.
Satan says that when we fail, our love has failed and we are doomed to rejection. Jesus, in asking Peter three times about his love for Himself, reinstated Peter and reminded him that all that really mattered was Peter’s return to his calling to follow Jesus. The bubble of regret can be burst by accepting the restoration of Jesus.
Jesus wants to burst these bubbles and help us to recognise Him in every situation – whether we feel life is hopeless, whether we are facing adverse circumstances, whether we are full of sorrow, whether disappointment is dogging us or whether we are living as failures, consumed by regret. There is no bubble Jesus cannot burst and bring us into glorious fellowship with Him.
