Luke, Chapter 9 part 1

This morning I am trying to refocus my efforts and my thoughts. I have felt very disconnected from God the past few days. I have struggled with branching away and trying to do things on my own. Naturally, this has led to poor results. I have become dissatisfied with many of my efforts as there is little movement career-wise. As usual, my best efforts yield nothing because I am not patient enough to wait on God. That is why I find the beginning of Luke 9 helpful this morning.

We live on faith. We are saved by grace thorough faith. We cannot accomplish anything without God’s blessing. When our reserves of faith are strong it feels like we can do anything. Conversely, when they are low even the most mundane tasks can seem overwhelming. We can quickly become mired in a morass of frustrating pursuits and seemingly fruitless efforts. When Jesus sends out the twelve, however, He instructs them to go with virtually nothing.

3He told them: "Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic. 4Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. 5If people do not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave their town, as a testimony against them." – Luke 9:3-5

He did not tell them to go to the ATM and take out a couple thousand dollars. He didn’t tellt hem to call ahead to friends for a place to stay. He sent them out to proclaim the greatest message ever passed along. It is a message that continues to echo through to today. Not only that, He provided for every need along the way. I am doing far less important work. I sit at home with a roof over my head, money in the bank, and a computer as my terminal to the world in which to do my small part, yet I despair that God will provide for my needs.

Jesus does the same in the next passage when he feeds the 5,000 from essentially nothing. I see from these passages encouragement that God can provide for every need. I struggle because it feels like I am going nowhere. In doing so I lose sight for the fact things could be worse. In that, I feel shame. I recently finished reading a book about a gentleman who survived ten years in a North Korean gulag where he had to scrounge for what little food needed to survive. He lives through that and I complain about getting offered a 2 week job that I feel is beneath me? This brings me great shame this morning, and I pray that God will look past my failings and still use me for His kingdom.