thinking about it
right now, this week is a first for me.
i've never just up and taken a week off work with no specific
plans. but after 4 straight weeks of
working at least 1 overtime shift, i'm worn out. and since my sister and i hadn't had time to
make plans… i just kept the time off.
that time is now over half gone, but i've caught up on sleep, my blood
pressure's gone back down and i've been able to do fun things like stain the
new deck, start painting the front hallway and take in a stray kitten who is a
550 gram walking skeleton, but the cutest skeleton you've ever seen. she's been to the vet, eaten as much as the
11 pound cat and hopefully will be booger-free once her antibiotics are done.
i've only had to
turn down 2 requests for work. it was
hard both times. i love my job, too much if that's possible. i like being busy, i love doing things, i
love seeing good spread and knowing i had a part in it. i am by nature a problem-solver, and broken
things that i can't fix are hard for me to accept. i hate hearing statistics that say non-Christians
give more, do more and do it faster and bigger than churches and religious
organizations. even if they're not all
true, or twisted, i have this burning aching desire to find a million dollars
and go on a thousand mission trips- all while running a house full of cats,
working full time overnight hours and even the inside of a gym once in a
while. we have yet another mission team
serving in South Africa right now, one headed to Memphis next month, 5
missionary families we support and at least 3 missions in Jackson. i want to do all of them.
beyond impossible,
it's insane.
so…. what,
then? God tells us to do good… and this
world is in such desperate need of good that it's exhausting to even think
about the enormity of the mission given to us. the new testament is chock full
of parables and commands and lessons on
bearing fruit, making disciples, loving everyone everywhere all the
time. like, my mind is whirling faster
than a spinning top. how? how on earth can i get it all done?!?!
is your pulse rising
yet? mine is.
and then….
then i heard just
what i needed to hear. our Bible study group is working through James this
summer and chapter 2 again explains how faith without works is dead and beyond
useless. and again, we were all drawn to the needs we saw and felt drawn to
participate in. the "doing"
had become the main focus in about 2 seconds.
we know that works have nothing
to do with salvation, but that they draw a clear line between genuine faith and
the fake stuff. and if i needed more confirmation that i was forgetting a key part of the deal, i came across this entertaining sermon as well:
flip back a few
pages to the tail end of the book of John, who knew James. i'd pay a booger-load of money to be able to
hear the conversations they must have had.
John had the heavy privilege of hearing Jesus's most intimate sermon
ever, the night before He was arrested. right about the point where His
disciples were probably going dizzy in the head from all He's said, He brings
everything together and sums it up with three little words:
"Abide in Me."
that's it.
not, "Pull out
your planners and wallets and smartphones" or, "here are My top 10
ministry choices, ready, set, go"
or even a "good luck."
all He says is "Abide in Me."
but the ministries
that need volunteers and donations? "Abide in Me."
or the refugees that
need food and water and homes? "Abide in Me."
but… but what about
those missionaries who's funding got cut?
"Abide in Me."
and the homeless
here? with the poor and under-educated
and ex-cons shunned by others? and the environment and abandoned kitties and
the polar bears? WHO'S GOING TO SAVE THE
POLAR BEARS?!?!?
"Abide in Me."
those few brief
sentences outline His whole plan for us.
He's the vine and we are the branches.
now, if you, unlike me, did NOT have rosebushes larger than a minivan
(no lie) that you had to prune back to the ground, you may not know what
branches do. it's not a whole lot. they abide.
even on a cellular level, branches are like tubes that water pushes up
through from the roots and the vine. the
nutrients go straight through from the bottom, and then, as long as the branch
is attached, all kinds of blooming and fruit happen on the top. the only prerequisite is that the branch
abide. it's a rather passive word,
'abide.' so little to 'do' and plan and … that's the beauty of
it. He does it all. we're the channels,
and if we abide, the fruit of His Spirit will spring out the ends of branches
faster than the hungry, aching world can devour it. there's nothing He can't do, and there's
everything we can't if we're reading calendars and budgets instead of His word.
not that we should never do anything, especially when we are called out to do
His work, but that we should recognize that it's His work, not ours.
i'm putting
"abiding" at the top of my to-do list. yes, there are still things that need to
happen, and the stay-cation is more than half over, so i'll be back at work
soon. but that, and everything else in
my life, will be a billion times more productive if i keep my eyes on Him. abiding in Him, there's no time for all this
stress.
He's got it all
under control.
even the polar
bears.
No comments:
Post a Comment