Life can be confusing at times. We need clarification. Jesus with His previous teaching just brought the disciples beyond their comfortable point of knowledge. You must have been in such situations before. Once you were so sure of yourself. You felt like you could be the teacher if needed. However, you heard something that totally disoriented you.

The disciples were sure at one point that they would be finely cared for by Jesus. Each of them had made a decision to follow Jesus. It is true, Jesus might not have been so clear as what the terms of their following Him would be.

They never asked. They just knew they had to be with Jesus. No doubt this is the way it was with many of us before we became a Christian.

Many of us have entered situations and contracts where we were not careful enough about finding about the practical points behind the commitment. I have come to realize that the school's catalogue or the ministry brochure is not where one finds out the real ethos of the organization. One has to wait for the handbook.

That comes with all the rules and regulations. With these we find out how seriously they interpret one matter or the other. But like Jesus called the disciples, the handbook never usually comes until one has made some measure of commitment.

After following Jesus for over a year now, they had gleaned a pretty sure understanding of what things were going to be like. Orientation class was over. Perhaps you remember that feeling coming back to school after your freshman year was over. You see the new students with puzzled expressions and full of questions. We felt a bit smug as we passed off the desperately needed answers to others the uninitiated. The disciples seemed to be unaware of their zone of familiarity until Jesus shook them with a few amazing statements.

The effective teacher must go beyond the level of their students' comfort. They must produce an uneasiness with what they know so they will be willing to acquire more. Jesus no doubt had done this. The way Jesus spoke to the rich and religious man shook them up. He wasn't going to make it into the kingdom of God without giving away all His riches. Now they were not so sure about themselves. We can see this by Peter's response.

Peter was the disciple that spoke his thoughts out loud. He said, "Behold, we have left everything and followed You." They were no doubt wondering why someone so contrite, religious, good, and wealthy had to give away all his wealth.

What did they have to give away to gain eternal life? They seem as if they are hearing their test results to see if they had been qualified or not.

Jesus in a sense changed the subject with His answer. At least the tone of His voice seemed to soften with concern. He sensed that He needed to come back on their level and connect their real needs with His 'new' teaching.

Jesus recognized that His disciples would often if not always be required to make a sacrifice of one kind or another. He appreciated their 'innocent' affection for Him and did not want any truth to get in the way of that growing relationship between Himself and each disciple. Jesus made a powerful equation.

The disciples felt very vulnerable at one point, but then He wanted to comfort and encourage them of the decisions they have made and in a sense would continue to need to make. I sensed God was beginning to bring a change over our lives one and a half years ago. God was using that well known book, 'Experiencing God', to bring me deeper in my encounter with Him much like He is now. The truths that He shared with me would shake up my then comfortable world.

I sensed that God wanted to bring me closer to Him. He indicated that there were two changes that would come over my life to bring me closer. I needed to begin to get ready for them. They were general truths that I shared in our cell group. Looking back, we now see that God was asking us to give up what was special so that we could receive more. The pathway was and is not always so easy though.

The first area He asked was one of ministry. Would I be willing to give up my area of ministry? I loved my ministry. Since I was a pastor at that time, it also meant a big change in vocation for whatever the Lord wanted. The second area was being willing to trust Him for finances. George Mueller trusted God. Would I allow finances to steer God's path for my life or would I allow God to lead me and care for me no matter where He lead me? I told the Lord that I was willing; I wanted to know Him so much more.