This exchange between the disciples and Jesus always makes
me smile because it reminds me so much of myself. Obviously, the disciples adored Jesus but no
matter how close they got to him their human nature occasionally got the best
of them. Their achievements and service
to him were many times underscored by the rising up of their flesh. Basically in our story above they served for
Him, reported to Him, demanded of Him, were humbled by Him and were used
through Him to advance their original message of hope and salvation. Does any of this sound familiar?
I only have to look as far as my service to God to see this
ancient story played out in present times.
In facilitating Griefshare, the emotional toil can be exhausting to say
the least. I love that God called me to
this ministry for I have been spiritually connected to some amazing
people. Before the last session I was
‘reminding’ God how many sessions I had led. (…and they gathered around Jesus and reported all they had done…) I knew people were already signing up for the
next session in an effort to find relief from their pain. (…many
ran on foot and got there ahead of them…)
I had decided that I needed a break from Griefshare and was probably going
to tell my minister I was pulling back.
(…send the people away…) God made it extremely clear through
two different circumstances that I would be returning to Griefshare. (…You
give them something to eat...) Much
like the disciples who had to serve loaves of humility when they realized that
Jesus commanded their service, I knew that I would carry my little 'loaves' into the church for another session. Like always, I was immensely blessed by this most recent session with some amazing women.
God will always determine our ministries and the length of
time for which we will serve. When He
places people in our path we must remember that His will must be done. What if the disciples huffed off at the
command of Jesus? They would have missed
the miracle of the moment. In that same vein, I am constantly amazed in Griefshare at the way God feeds those
suffering from grief. They come in
hungry and leave fed; they come in thirsty and experience the Living Water.
When God directs our service, He gives the required
provisions, and miracles are experienced.
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