Recently, I have been going through a devotional about the story of Gideon. If you don’t know Gideon, he is an Old Testament hero; legendary for winning a battle with ONLY 300 soldiers BUT also known for his weaknesses. He was not the strongest in his clan, nor was he a decorated solider. When readers actually lay eyes on him in Judges 6, he was out in the fields, tending to wheat.
The other day, I was reading through John 3 and happened upon a story familiar to me – the one where Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the night. If you’ve never read this passage before, go read it, it’s a good one. Go ahead, I’ll wait… Done? Great. Basically, Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews comes to Jesus at night and calls him a great teacher. To which Jesus gives a cryptic response: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (vs 3) Nicodemus doesn’t understand, and then Jesus goes on to elaborate for the rest of the chapter.
Growing up on this story, I always thought of Nicodemus as that one dumb guy who just couldn’t grasp what Jesus was trying to tell him about salvation – since I was raised on the concept of being “born again”. If you read the title of this post, you’re probably thinking “So why would you think he went to Cal”? Cal only accepts the best and the brightest, and Nicodemus seems pretty clueless here. Not to mention, Cal is 148 years old and Nicodemus died almost 2000 years ago. These are great arguments, but I’m still not convinced. Let me tell you why.
One of my absolute worst fears came into fruition this weekend. This isn’t hyperbole, this was straight up terror. All my life, I’ve known that I’m allergic to bee stings. Allergic in the sense that...well...at least I think I’m allergic. When I’ve been stung in the past I swell up really bad. I’m not sure if that’s what happens to everyone - it doesn’t seem that way - but for me, my body reacts dramatically. My great fear has been that I would get stung in my neck. Yep. Greatest fear in life. (Except for falling off the side of the Grand Canyon. Seriously...these are my fears. Someone called me irrational once. I told them my nickname was Pi).
All that to say, the kids and I were walking to the park on Saturday and I got stung in the neck by a bee. Immediately I turned us around and headed back home, and I wasn’t waiting for the kids to catch up. I flung open the door and yelled out to Deb that I was in trouble. I was panicking - I thought this really might be IT. I can’t stress how freaked out I was. I raced over to the medicine cabinet and grabbed the Benadryl. After I swallowed the pill, all I could do was sit and wait. And think. And worry. And fear.
I proposed to a boy on my first day of kindergarten. His name was Conrad (Hi, Conrad--hope you don’t remember this), and he was the cutest boy ever. I schemed my way into sitting next to him at lunch and laughed a little too hard when he told me a joke...probably something involving animals, or whatever the kids are joking about these days. And that’s when it happened. “Want to hear something funny?” I asked him. He nodded eagerly. “Wouldn’t it be funny if you and I got married?” I said in a five year old’s version of coyness.
What followed was seven seconds of excruciating silence. Seven seconds of wanting the ground to open up and swallow me alive. Seven seconds that made an alarm go off in my tiny heart that screamed, ABORT! ABORT! THIS ISN’T GOING WELL! And even though I laughed it off and quickly changed the topic to my favorite artist at the time, Britney Spears... those were seven seconds of free-falling vulnerability that--two decades later--I have never forgotten.
Blue and gold decorate the city of Berkeley during graduation weekend, saying goodbye to Cal graduates and hello to summer. It's always a bittersweet time, as I know there are many students who are spreading their wings and transitioning to a new adventure ahead. For returning students, the stress of taking finals, packing up boxes, and moving apartments is intense, but short-lived. And after a week of all-nighters and celebrating with friends, summer is here!
It's easy to coast in your faith this summer, but instead of choosing a desert, opt instead for a rich and connected season with God. Now that's easier said than done, of course, but we would love to share here some spiritual disciplines periodically throughout the summer that will help you run to Jesus for more. Many will be taken from the book, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun and paraphrased here. Inside her book, there are 75 different practices and disciplines to cultivate closeness with God.
Try this one. Breath Prayer.
