Saturday Share: God of Miracles with Rodrigo Cruz

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

Timing – my timing is almost never God’s timing. Guaranteed though, God’s timing is always better than my timing!

A month or so ago I asked Rodrigo if he would like to contribute to Saturday Share through a personal testimony of what truths God is currently teaching him. Immediately he said, “Yes” because he can’t help himself from testifying to God’s goodness.

Lately, though, the stuff of life has been pressing hard on Rodrigo and his family. Time and energy constraints have kept us from connecting. You see, the Cruz family has quite a few irons in the fire at home, in their church, on the sports fields, and in the community – just to scratch the surface.

Never mind though. God has known all along this is the right time for just the message He gave Rodrigo to share here. I’m so appreciative my neighbor and pastor friend deliberately carved out a few moments to share this message with me/us. It’s timely… for me, and I’m going to believe for you too.

So, without further delay, grab your mug, find a comfy chair and prepare to be both challenged and encouraged. Out of the mouths of babes…

God of Miracles with Rodrigo Cruz…

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Miracles… anyone?

A couple of weeks ago I was driving my oldest son (RJ) to his football practice when out of the blue he asked me a very interesting question: “Daddy, have you ever wondered if you are working for the wrong God?”

I was surprised by his question, so I asked him to explain himself. He responded: “Have you ever wondered if our bible is wrong, God doesn’t exist, and maybe other religions are right? See, if you are working for the wrong God?”

As parents, there are some questions that we get from our kids that we simply want to ignore or that we sincerely don’t want to answer. For example, I have been asked “Daddy, would you rather eat a giant booger or be stung by 1000 bees?” Or “Daddy, why does mommy always takes so long to get ready?” There are questions that we just don’t want to answer.

But the question of this day was different, it needed an answer. Not because my son was questioning his faith, but actually because he was questioning mine. So, this question made me take a deep breath and a deep look into my faith.

You may be wondering why should I even have to look at my faith since as a pastor the answer should be automatically yes. But it is precisely because I am a pastor, that I am exposed on a daily basis to so much brokenness in the community that I need to examine my faith and make sure I have enough to share with others.

The interesting thing about the question raised by my son is that it came in the week that in the church I was starting a new sermon series called “Miracles”. The question came at a time when I needed to have a clear answer to the question “Is God real?” You see, I was about to encourage people that regardless how big of a mess they may be living in, regardless how broken the world may be, and regardless how dark the evil that they may be fighting feels, there is a real God, that it’s actually a good/loving God and He is still doing miracles in this world.

Let me suggest that in this particular moment of your life you may be wondering the same questions: Is God real? If so, is God good? If so, can God do a miracle in my life?

I believe the answers to all those questions are YES, YES and YES. But I also believe that you may need more than a YES. So, let me give you more. I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ it’s the greatest example of God’s existence, God’s goodness and God’s love for all creation. In other words: Without the resurrection, everything else is pointless; with the resurrection, everything else is possible.

Now, let me assure you that I am not just being preachy to you, I am telling you what I really believe. You see, that night that RJ questioned my faith, I got a phone call from my dad (who is only 65) and he told me that he has been diagnosed with a brain tumor.

As you can imagine, there are so many things that we do not know what’s next for him, and all these unknowns are very scary and overwhelming. Yet, there is one thing that we do know, and that is that God is real, God is good, and God is still doing miracles on earth.

So, if you need a miracle (just like me), pray for one, God is listening.

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Rev. Dr. Rodrigo Cruz is lead pastor of The Nett Church @ Berkmar and welcomes you to visit their website – http://www.thenettchurch.com/ – for further information regarding the vision and mission God has given for casting The Nett. Rev. Cruz is married to Kelly and is daddy to four precious children, who keep the couple continuously on their toes.