Wanting to Be Seen

Warriors Arise: August 30th, 2020

John 21:1-4 (NKJV) After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. 4 But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

How many people could you recognize without seeing a clear picture of them? Maybe you recognize them by their posture, the way they walk, or smile. In college I had a friend who turned around and said. "I knew it was you because of your laugh! You have the best laugh. It is so infectious." I grinned; because I couldn't deny it. She and I and had known each other less than two years but she could identify me without seeing me.

We think we have to physically see Jesus with our eyes to know He is in the room, walking with us, or riding in the car with us. But you don't. There is no way you could talk me out of believing, I have been in the presence of God. Thankfully He didn't strike me down for I know He could have and I have given Him a number of reasons but He didn't. There was a period of time where I spent a lot of time in the car. I would pray and worship Jesus. I would listen to cassette tapes of messages from pastors my mother had sent me. I called my car my sanctuary. I didn't mind the drives because I enjoyed the time with Jesus. Many times I would turn every thing off and just be silent in His presence. Those times were so precious to me. They would bring an enormous amount of peace, wisdom, and joy. There were times He didn't want to be worshiped, because He wanted to be heard. I had to learn to silence my heart and all the thoughts demanding attention. If Jesus wanted to talk, it was something I needed to hear.

The way that John states the facts, "yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus" makes me think they saw Him; they just didn't know it was Him. Whether they were so frustrated by the unfruitfulness of their night, or they were so discouraged from casting, pulling, and lifting the nets into the boat; they didn't see Jesus standing on the shore. How long had He been there?

Maybe they even thought the man on the shore would be a customer wanting to buy the fish they had caught. The only problem: they didn't have any fish! So they continue to cast the net. Have you ever been so disgusted with what you couldn't accomplished that you keep trying again and again? You try to complete the task, knowing it should work the way you have been doing, it but it just isn't? You get so intense on making it happen you fail to step back and get a different perspective.

We can get so caught up in a what we want to happen, what we want to accomplish, what we have committed ourselves to and fail to recognize this maybe isn't what God wants to happen. This isn't what God wants me to accomplish. This isn't what God wanted me to commit my time to. God patiently waits for us to see Him standing within vocal range.

God wants us to look up and see Him, recognize Him. The disciples could see the man standing on shore. They had been with Jesus for over three years, day and night, eating together. They knew each other's mannerisms. They knew each other's swag. They knew each other's posture. Yet, Jesus waits. He waits for them to see Him, to know He is there.

Jesus wasn't hiding behind a rock. I think He had hoped that when the morning had come they would see Him on shore and know it was Him. He might have even hoped they would give up their futile act and return to shore. They seemed to see Him there and not know it was Him.

Father, each day we need to see You. We need to know You are with us. I understand You are Emmanuel, God with Us. But sometimes I go along in my day doing what I "need" to do and forget to engage with You. I am thankful for Your protection from the coronavirus. I am thankful You have shared a cure for those who are able to identify the virus early. I pray for You to come and minister to the teachers and students, administration and staff, coaches and officials who are in schools all over America, trying to accomplish what You have would have for them. I ask for You to give each one courage and strengthen their faith. I pray they would call out to You to build their immune system and strengthen the protection around them. I pray each teacher would see You are standing in their classroom, ready to bring peace, joy and confidence that You will see them through. The teachers need to know You are with them. You are guiding them each day in their lessons. For those who are having to venture into teaching their students virtually, I ask for greater understanding of technology, new type of teaching and grading their students. No teacher wants their kids to be behind when the school year is over. I ask for Your presence to be with the students who didn't get to finish their school year this past spring. I pray for You to grant them understanding. I ask for the students to recognize they need a greater power than themselves and someone who can help them get caught up with what they missed last spring. You can do this. I pray each student would not give up but would seek You ask for Your help and see You as You give it to them. I ask they praise God who made heaven, earth and gave them understanding that they did not learn from anyone else. I pray for You to give teachers insight and awareness on how to prevent causing fear in their students. No one can help the circumstances they have to continue in school but they can be calm, encouraging, and full of faith that You will see them through this in Jesus' name amen.

A Warrior in the Lord’s Army,

Veridee Joy

My hope is for Believers in Jesus Christ to join together each day to pray, to push back the enemy as we release God’s power here on earth against the coronavirus, riots, and lies. The prayers will be listed each day as Warriors Arise. I will put a date with it so we can keep them straight. If you have any questions please feel free to make a comment or private message me. If you would like this to come to your email directly please go to verideehand.com and subscribe.