Category: <span>thoughts by Anton Rautenbach</span>

It can happen in a matter of minutes. A beautiful sunshiny day can become overcast, gloomy, and dank. A wet fog rolls in and blankets everything. It clings to you as you strain to see beyond a few feet in front of you. You feel closed in, almost claustrophobic. Your hands are tempted to swoosh it away like you would debris when swimming in a river or lake. But it closes back in after a millisecond.

Life imitates nature, doesn’t it? I know there have been times my outlook was quite sunny. My world was just about perfect and I felt happy, accomplished, blessed. Then a situation or circumstance hit. Suddenly I felt as if I was encased in a fog. All sense of direction lost. I couldn’t see my way. My dreams and plans vanished in the thickness of the now.

Peter, John and James experienced this. I’d read the transfiguration story in the Gospels many, many times. But recently, Luke 9:34 leaped out at me. And God whispered a lesson to me. Because you see, I’ve been in a fog lately.

Jesus took these men up on the mountain to pray, as told in Luke 9:28-36. It must have been a gorgeous vista. Their Lord had gone up into the mountains to pray before, but always alone. Now He invited them. Not all of the twelve, just these three. Can you see their proud l struts, their smiles? What could be better?  Then they see Jesus’ countenance change into a dazzling white as the two most important, holy people in their tradition, Moses and Elijah, descended to be by his side. Wow. Talk about a Kodak moment! But they didn’t have that modern invention. No phones for selfies. So, Peter suggested they do what their patriarchs had done when encountering God breaking through to earth. Build an altar. Erect a tabernacle. Mark the moment.

As he [Peter] said this, a cloud came and overshadowed them and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.” (Luke 9:34).  In rolled the blinding fog. Their view of the holiest thing they’d ever witnessed blocked off. The moment gone. Their breaths stolen.

But God didn’t leave them there. “A voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’(vs.35). Focus not on yourselves, but on Jesus. Erase your self-oriented thoughts. Let Him lead you. This isn’t about Jesus acknowledging you, it’s about you acknowledging my Son.

The good news is that God doesn’t leave us either. Even if we can’t see Him though the circumstances that are clouding our faith, He can still break through to comfort us, correct us, and lovingly guide us back to what we need to be focusing upon–Him. Just as He did for me as I read this passage in Scripture.

Fogs don’t last forever. The sun will break through again. But in the meantime perhaps we are supposed to stop and no longer rely on our own abilities. Instead, let us listen for God’s directive voice. Then when the sun does break through and we can see again, like Peter James and John in verse 36, let us continue to focus on Jesus alone.

By Julie Cosgrove
Used by Permission

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Thoughts by All thoughts by Anton Rautenbach thoughts by Julie Cosgrove

By Anton Rautenbach

Many years ago, an old man advised me to cast my bread on the water, and it will come back to me. I read somewhere that words such as “please” and “thank you” are short, but their echoes can be endless.

A short while after I had moved into my new home, I met the young married couple, who are my neighbors. We exchanged introductions and small talk over the shoulder-high wall between our properties; and I was thankful that they were quite pleasant.

One day they came to my door looking rather hesitant. I invited them to come in as I could sense they were uncomfortable about something. That day, the young lady had received a notice of a disciplinary hearing at work.

The first time we met, I told them that I was a corporate lawyer; and so, they had come to me for advice on the matter. I perused the notice, which contained the charges against the young lady, and the company’s disciplinary policy that contained the disciplinary procedure.

Having considered the information at hand, I was able to put my neighbors’ minds at ease, as the company hadn’t followed their own procedure correctly; and the charges, as formulated in the notice, were defective in that it didn’t reveal any wrongdoing on the part of the young lady.

Being able to help them made me feel good, although I had to be careful not to make them think the matter wasn’t serious. Speaking from experience, I explained to her that it would be difficult to find alternative employment in the current economic downturn. She should be mindful of being on time and doing her work to the best of her abilities to keep her job.

Today, I went next door and asked my neighbor what the outcome of the hearing was. Well, it was heartwarming to see that he was relieved. His wife gave her defense to the chairperson, who agreed with my opinion on the matter; and she was given a written warning as she admitted guilt to a lesser charge.

I had done something good – I had followed an old man’s advice whose words echoed in my mind: “Cast your bread on the water ...” Now I can look forward to it coming back to me.

When we can do something for another person, who is in need – on the spur of the moment and unplanned – let us not forget what Jesus had done for us on the Cross at Calvary. It also means we can live without care (1 Corinthians 7:32). Jesus is our advocate before God (1 Timothy 2:5) to whom we should confess our sin in full and without reserve (Psalms 32:5; 51:3; 106:6); and it will be followed by pardon (Psalms 32:5; 1 John 1:9).

Prayer thought: Let me never ignore the echoes of God’s Word. Amen.

By Anton Rautenbach

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