Our Eastern View

“And Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’” John 1:46

I’ve never thought of this question until today and how rich it is in application for you and for me. Nathanael’s question was in response to Philip, his friend who was encouraging him to meet Jesus. Philip believed Jesus was the coming Messiah based on the prophesies of past prophets. Clearly, Nathanael’s opinion of Nazarenes was negative and judgmental leaving a bad taste in his mouth. This question is hauntingly similar to thoughts that I have had during some of my most challenging seasons. I have had the same distaste in my mouth when considering outcomes from life’s problems beckoning the same question…, ‘Can anything good come from ________?’

Sometimes the very thing that we dislike will be the very thing that God uses to deliver us. The phone rings, the text is delivered, the medical test comes back and our mind and heart sound the battle cry, ‘Can anything good come from this? This situation stinks!’ Suddenly, our doubt replaces our hope…our fear screams over the whisper of our faith…our expectations are replaced with exceptions. We must remember that the same ‘good’ that came out of Nazareth for the disciples is the same ‘good’ Who comes out of Heaven for us…Christ Jesus! He has been coming out for us since our first breath and our first heartbeat. He is the answer to every single question in all our quandaries.

When we begin asking the question of ‘What on earth could possibly be good about our situation’ we only need to look at our past seasons. The same Jesus who came out of Nazareth is the same Jesus who came to us in our hurting. He is the same Jesus who walked us through our failures to the other side. He is the same Jesus who stays with us when we walk away. There is spiritual good to be found in every season which is an overflow of our experiences when we walk them out with God.

He will turn everything we face into the ability to face everything!