Are You Looking For More Leftovers Or Complaining About Them?
Good Morning Friends,
The thing is that we are generally responsible and do not like to see food, energy, or time go to waste. Maybe that is why I started writing this devotional last night after serving my family a meal of the remains of previous culinary concoctions. But sometimes, along comes a brick wall we cannot climb over without help. I had to stop writing. Now sometimes when we get stopped we get mad or maybe we panic or maybe our frustration shows. Oh, I know I should be telling you about making a spiritual connection and praying but that is rarely what I do and I suspect that occasionally you too get upset about the way the world does not always work to our schedule. But the reality is that it is indeed better to pray encouraging God to handle the problem and then go to sleep. I figure God does not sleep and there is no reason for both of us being up dealing with the problem. It is here that God multiplies a solution for God is capable of providing for all that we really need while the Devil deceives us into thinking we need more. We do so struggle with the idea that God knows best as to the timing of things. I guess I will leave this now and wait for a better thought to come along.
So, Are You Looking For More Leftovers Or Complaining About Them?
Scripture: But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.” The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” And to the man he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And the Lord God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them. Then the Lord God said, “See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life.
Genesis 3:9-24 (NRSV)
In those days when there was again a great crowd without anything to eat, he called his disciples and said to them, “I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way—and some of them have come from a great distance.” His disciples replied, “How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert?” He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” Then he ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground; and he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute; and they distributed them to the crowd. They had also a few small fish; and after blessing them, he ordered that these too should be distributed. They ate and were filled; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. Now there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
Mark 8:1-10 (NRSV)
God said, “It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them.”
Hosea 11:34 (NRSV)
And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19 (NRSV)
And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.”
Revelation 19:9 (NRSV)
Message: I do almost all the cooking at home while my wife grades papers. You see my wife is a teacher and really gifted at internalizing subject matter and covering the detail of what eventually will be tested in the classroom. She has been recognized for her ability and realizes that sometimes she will need to re-teach certain material for the immature, stubborn and negligent that did not pay attention the first time. My wife is concerned that she will be teaching the right things as well. There are consequences for not learning it the first time because sometimes there is no opportunity for a second chance. Her concern is real for not only will the students be tested but she will be evaluated on how well her students do. Indeed it is a challenge to have patience and love in sharing valuable lessons a second time. And that is what is happening in today’s scripture. Jesus feeds 5000 people in Mark 6. Then He feeds 4000 people in Mark 8. And in the reading we learn that it is not just a lesson to learn about what is happening in their time and place, but that ultimately it is about faith… about trusting in a person. You see, faith is not about stuff…it is not about loaves and fishes….and it is especially not about the stuff of politics. Let’s face it, some stuff can multiply to the point it chokes out what is really important. So today’s message is that faith is not about things happening or things not happening. Faith is not a copout or excuse to evade the evidence. It is not about things coming together. It is not about a happy feeling or a secure moment or even knowledge….it is about a person… a relationship. The problem is that people want proof before they commit. They do not really believe in miracles even though they have seen them many times. People do not believe in love. People like the disciples experience a faith amnesia, they struggle with the same things that the Pharisees struggled with….trust. At this point Jesus decides that there is too much testing and not enough teaching. Taking away all matters of faith defeats the purpose. Jesus does not want us to believe in a sign… He wants us to believe in Jesus for where there is no relationship, there is no faith. So too we want others to believe that life is filled with more leftover lessons learned but never tested…so many outcomes that never get counted. Friends, they are there to God’s glory…everywhere…waiting to be to be used until that day we are called to the banquet with Jesus in a meal that is forever renewed.
Pray we use our time well. Pray we not complain about the way God provides. Pray that we learn not only the prescribed content from the lessons of life but what comes from relationships with people as well. Pray that our lives reflect Christ’s patience, gentleness, and love. Pray we learn to wait on God and avoid temptation. Pray that the Holy Spirit grant us wisdom in sharing the right message. Pray we not be discouraged. Pray we not get lost in the fog of unbelief. Pray we remember how we felt when we actually learned something from a teacher. Pray we remember how it feels to be in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Pray we understand that faithfulness is to be understood in the context of a relationship. Pray we are sure of what we hope for. Pray we realize and believe that God will provide what we need to live an abundant life. Pray we realize that the best is yet to be.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 