Recipient, Apprentice, and Messenger of Grace
If God has come to us, here in this world, why is there so much need?
When we look at John’s account of Jesus feeding 5000 people, I believe we can see some important things.
Jesus came into the mess of our lack and brought abundance.
See Him. See that Jesus is our great PROVISION, not just our Provider.
Believe Him. Believe that will both BE and PROVIDE what we truly need.
Know Him. Know Him as God in the Mess of your Lack.
Once again God is using my kids as a tool for teaching me, growing me, stretching me…and it’s not comfortable.
Through their very different and very passionate and indeed honorable perspectives, I am challenged to look deeper at the circumstances our nation is facing and try to see past myself.
I hear people on one side of the political spectrum staunchly insisting that we must go and do what is needed to eradicate a hideous threat to peace and genuine freedom in the world. I’d like that…but…being a father of a soldier, I seem to see it differently than I did a few months ago. Before, saying “we must” didn’t risk what is precious to me.
I hear people on the other side of the spectrum feverishly arguing that we have a moral obligation as a nation to take in those who flee from the very threat that they have witnessed first hand and provide for their needs regardless of the cost. But, like many of us trying to make ends meet in a difficult economy, I don’t know how to squeeze more tax dollars out of what I have. Saying “we must” is easy when it doesn’t risk my comfort.
I think that’s the core of many of our issues. I am so quick to say “we” when I really mean “they.” Continue reading We…but Not Me
What do you need?
Oh, I know that, most of the time, most of us actually need very little. We have the absurd luxury to say that we need more bread when we get to the last two or three slices in the bag. I dare say we misuse the word “need” more than we use it correctly.
But I am a needy kind of person (and that is, perhaps, the most loaded statement I have ever typed). In this stage of my life, the one thing I find myself most often in genuine need of is direction. I need to know how to proceed – as a pastor trying to lead a congregation and as a father trying to lead a family.
