God a Prankster?

Reconnecting with an old friend of mine of few weeks back I was reminded of a day trip we took a few years back to Minneapolis. We were going to visit a Christian nightclub (I think it was called the Firehouse) We had wanted to try and open a club in Des Moines and heard about this one so went to check it out. We arrived in MN a couple hrs before this place opened so we decided to check out the “Mall of America” It was fairly new back then and very very busy. Being the optimist that I am I always make a quick pass through the front parking spaces before heading to my real spot in the back of the lot. On this day God was smiling on us. We pull into the first aisle and immediately see a car pulling out of a spot. We smile, laugh and do the whole Thank you God thing, I can’t believe this, God is looking out for us today. Then the car pulls right back in and the people get out. WHAT! We started laughing and said Thanks God that was a mean joke. Just then another car pulled out three or four spots over. This caused us to really bust out laughing. Whoever said God wasn’t a prankster. Being jokesters ourselves we had fun with that one for quite awhile. I’m sure this was probably one of those “you just need to be there moments” But to us it was hilarious we were and still are convinced that God set it up just for us a “Prank the Pranksters” type scenario (We were known as Larry Long and his Buddy Bald) All that to say I think God has a sense of humor. I think he loves to relate with us just like we relate to each other and that means jokes as well. Don’t believe me lets look at the bible. Exodus 3 is the story of Moses and the Burning Bush. God could have gotten Moses attn anyway he wanted. He could have spoken to him in a dream, It could have been a voice in the sky but no he chose a Burning Bush that didn’t burn. I think God said “I’m going to have fun with this guy” Why not? He wanted a relationship not an employee. Go on to chapter 4 God says to Moses drop your staff without telling him what was going to happen. He does, it becomes a serpent and MOSES RUNS. Tell me God wasn’t laughing at that. I would have split my sides. For the sake of time lets move to the New Testament. Matthew 8 They are in a boat Jesus is a sleep a storm comes that is so fierce they fear for their very lives they wake Jesus and he shakes his head (I think with a hidden smirk) then yells at the storm to stop. Tell me he and God weren’t giggling a bit at their reaction. Feeding of the five thousand Jesus could have just said at the beginning we’re going to feed them and this is how it’s going to play out. It would have been just as impressive but I think he wanted them to sweat a little. He wanted to blow their minds. Jesus walking on the water. When he sent his disciples away he could have told them I’ll catch up remember I’m God I don’t need a boat but no instead he walks up and they think he’s a ghost. I really imagine Jesus laughing all the way out to the boat anticipating their reaction. Here’s one of my favorites Matt 17 Jesus tells Peter to catch a fish and money will be in its mouth to pay the temple tax. Can you see Peter going to the Ocean shaking his head the whole way? Believe me there are many more examples. But there are also examples of Jesus sacrificing daily for others. There are examples of Jesus crying, eating with others, Teaching, Healing. The examples I’m thinking about are specific for his Disciples and close knit group of friends. They experienced it all! Others would experience one or two things but not the jokes, no explanation of his parables, not the intimate relational things they were reserved for specific people those who wanted more from him than a quick fix. Jesus could have come to this earth lived his life and died. He could have chosen 12 disciples and sat them down as students (Like I assume the Pharisees did) and said when I’m gone this is all up to you so pay attn. But he didn’t he developed a relationship with them. So much so that after his death they were lost and confused. If he were just a teacher they would have shrugged their shoulders and said oops guess we were wrong back to the boats and not been around to see his resurrection. Here’s my point To God we are more than just a number. Every person that accepts Christ and repents of their sins God has a personal vested interest in. Jesus knew what to do on a daily basis because he had a personal relationship with his Father and did nothing without first seeing his father do it John 5:19. The Disciples had a personal relationship with Jesus and did what they did because Jesus told them to do it even when it seemed far fetched. If I were Peter I never would have gone looking for that “Money Fish” if I didn’t already trust Jesus. So, Jesus had his Father, The disciples had Jesus and his Father, We have Jesus, His Father and The Holy Spirit. Now if that’s really the case then I have to ask. Why don’t we step out in faith more often when God says Give money to ______, or Go talk to _______, Quit your job and _________, Start a ministry for__________? The best I can figure is because we don’t REALLY trust him and we don’t really trust him because we aren’t doing our half of the work in getting to know him. We know it’s not the other way around. How do we do it? How do we do our part? Jesus had a different relationship with each of his disciples and I’m sure he does with each of us as well so I’m not going to answer that. All I’m going to say is Go to God and ask him. God how do we develop an intimate relationship with each other? You and I God? Then listen for the answer and do it even if it means “Going Fishing”.

It may not always be easy to follow his lead but the more we do the more we see him work, the more we see him work the better we know him, the better we know him the more we trust him, the more we trust him the easier to follow his lead. So what do you say why don’t we go out and ask God to blow our mind. Lets ask God to dinner, go for a walk, to reveal the meaning of his scriptures, to tell us a joke and to blow our minds. Lets invite him into an honest full fledged intimate relationship with him. Once we do I promise our lives will be turned “Upside Down”.