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Weekly Devotion by Donnie Guy

Reflections from the Sitting Porch

Feeling the Tug!

A small farm boy was out flying his kite one windy day in March way down in the lower pasture. Wanting to see his kite go higher and higher, he kept adding string until it was plum out of sight. A neighboring farmer happened to be plowing his field with a team of mules and saw the little boy standing among the tall grass. From where the man stood, it looked as though the little boy had happened upon a snake or some other varmint and was afraid to move so the concerned farmer stopped plowing, walked over to the fence that separated the two fields and yelled, “Hey, what’cha doing?” “Flying my kite”, the little fellow replied quickly. Relieved that the little tike was not in some kind of danger, the farmer looked skyward but saw no sign of a kite. “Can’t see no kite”, said the farmer, “are ya sure there’s one up there?” “Oh you can’t see it now but it’s up there alright”, the boy said; the farmer could hear the excitement in his voice. “How can you be so sure it’s still on the end of the string, if you can’t see it”, the farmer inquired once more? Bored with all so many questions, the little boy replied back to the farmer with a bit of childlike disgust, “Cause you don’t have to see it mister when you can feel the tug.”  

  After the resurrection, Jesus spent forty-days with the eleven apostles whom he had chosen, giving them commandments and speaking of those things pertaining to the kingdom of God; having finished the Father’s mission of the Cross, time had come for the Saviour to depart this earthly realm and return to His world. For thirty-years, he had been absent from heaven; the Son was away on business but now the day had come for Him to return from whence He came so when Jesus had spoken these things, while the apostles beheld , he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight. Jesus was headed back home.

  We mortals do a pretty good job of celebrating homecomings but we can only speculate as to the fanfare that erupted that day in heaven, as the conquering King, the One who was once dead but is alive forevermore, entered again into that eternal city. What a glorious scene that must have been as Jesus stepped off the cloud, which had taken Him up, on to heaven’s portals; the eternal One had returned to eternity. Heaven had seemed so empty while its Lord was away but with His return, heaven was heaven again; Jesus was back among the living. Having accomplished the mission, the Lord sat down at the right hand of God, the seat He so freely vacated some thirty-years earlier; the Son had returned home and all of heaven rejoiced.

  On that little hill just outside of Bethany though, faces were sadden and spirits were even lower, for Jesus was loved as much among those earthly brethren standing there watching His departure as among the celestial family who eagerly celebrated His arrival home. One can just see ole Peter, John and the other apostles standing by watching that spectacular scene unfold; all were forlorn, saddened because the One whom they’d grown so accustomed to walking among them was now leaving, Golgotha’s ordeal was over; the mission had been accomplished. At best, that scene was solemn and somber that day so as Jesus was being taken up, those men stood looking up into the heavens, each man simply trying to get one last glimpse of the Master before the clouds completely enveloped Him and He was taken out of sight. As the Lord ascended into the clouds, he blessed the men looking on and so they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. Though Jesus had been taken up out of sight and they could no longer see Him, still each man felt the tug.

  God seems to always know just when we need a tug. It’s usually when our faith is waning and hope is at its lowest ebb. During such moments of despair, heaven can feel so far away and joy seems to abandon one’s soul. Such was the spirit of the disciples during those dark days that followed Jesus’ crucifixion in Jerusalem. That terrible event sent most of the disciples into a panic. Peter and a few others hid out in the upper room for fear their fate would be the same as the Master’s; two others left town by way of the Emmaus road. Despondent, they spoke of all the things that had happened to Jesus and as they spoke among themselves, the One they supposed was dead drew near and talked with them. After that encounter, the two returned to Jerusalem with joy and shared their experience with those gathered in the upper room, saying one to the other: “Did not our hearts burn within us, while he talked with us along the way?” Cleopas and his companion had felt the tug on the Emmaus road but those hiding out in the upper room seemed skeptical of their story. That night though, Jesus appeared to the whole bunch and spoke these words: “Peace be unto you.” Then faith replaced fear and they too felt the tug.

  Believers must remain on guard against the devil’s tactics. That little imp knows he can’t rob us of salvation so he loves nothing more than to steal away our joy; using every bad experience that comes along in life to accomplish his goal. The days following hurricane Katrina were dark also, as two other disciples stood on some four feet of debris deposited in our front yard, left there by a thirty-foot storm surge. Tears filled our eyes as we gazed at that pile of ruble and what little remained of our home. A sense of dread griped our hearts; that sinking feeling that invades one’s soul when such troubles come our way. Thoughts of “What is to be come of us, where are we to live, and how do we start all over again” raced through our minds? Everything we owned was now nothing more than fodder for the trash pile; forty-years of family history and possessions were blown away. Katrina left us with nothing more than a shell of a house and the clothes on our backs. Ivy did think to gather up some ministry documents just before we left home that Sunday ahead of the storm; other than that, all else was gone.

  Standing there on the ruble, we were much like the disciples that stormy night on the Sea of Galilee, afraid and doubtful about our future. Then we remembered the Lord was in the boat that night too and being Creator, knew a little something about storms so as we clung to one another, a verse came to mind: “And we know that all things work together for the good to them who love God, and are called according to his purpose.” Like the apostles watching Jesus’ departure into heaven or the two disciples on the Emmaus road, we too were afraid; then we both felt the tug and immediately, the storm that raged in our hearts dissipated and peace came. You may be going through a storm today. If so, be assured that even though we can’t see Jesus, we’re still attached to Him by faith; simply trust and obey and you too will feel the tug.

Written by Donnie Guy – July 2010