Skip to main content

But won't my arms get tired?

Small does not mean isignificant. Being insignificant means being isignificant. But perhaps that's besides the point. I came across this small verse in a small letter towards the back of the New Testament. It's Jude 20-21. All of it is good and I am thankful to Jude for writing it, but one thing in particular struck me this morning.

Jude encourages his readers to "keep your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ."

It seems to me that we keep ourselves very busy dooing things. This keeps our hands busy. Busy, busy, busy. We're busy like bees, but at least the bees make honey. I often wonder what we create with all our busyness.

Jude is telling us to keep our arms open and outstretched. I'm not sure about you, but I haven't often tried to get things done with my arms in the air. Unless, of course, I was holding something up for somebody. But except for those instances, I often have my arms full and doing stuff. Because doing stuff is perceived as good and important and not doing stuff is equated with southerners on their porch. (Before I have anyone from the south tell me how stupid I am, keep in mind two things. 1. I am from the south. 2. I already know how stupid I am.)

I guess, for now, instead of getting back to the to-do list, I'm going to go hold my hands up somewhere and wait to see what God does.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Accountable

I recently officiated a wedding. The ceremony was simple, lovely, and ended with another couple professing to keep the covenant of marriage. But it all started with a clarification...from me. At our first premarital counseling session, as I have done with every couple I have agreed to marry, I clarified a couple of matters. First, I officiate Christian weddings, where both spouses-to-be are professing Christians. I firmly believe that marriage is difficult enough, without adding disagreements about God into the mix. Second, as a minister of Jesus Christ, I believe the pastor’s role in a wedding is to represent the blessing of God on that union. So we have several sessions of premarital counseling where we discuss married life. It’s not that I have this imaginary card in my head, with a picture of me on the front and my stats on the back. (You know, like a baseball card.) Ok, I do picture cards. Pastor cards! And being a competitive guy, I want my stats to look good. The number of coupl...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Facebook Maybe

Granted, I'm a pastor. I have Type-A tendencies. Ok, my tendencies border on freakish OCD behavior patterns, but... Few things bother me more than the Facebook 'maybe'. I suppose I could go on and on about the grey areas of our society and the refusal of people to accept absolute standards. I could discuss the great need of people to accept that what is wrong for one person is likely wrong for everyone. I should certainly be concerned about mentioning that someone might have sin in their life. But I don't believe the Facebook 'maybe' is quite sin. Perhaps if I were coming up with new sins, I would add this to the list. But alas... Some might think the Facebook 'maybe' did not exist prior to the Internet, but they would be wrong. When I was in high school and asked a girl out on a date, I would normally be told that if they had no other plans, if nobody else called them, if there was nothing good on television and their hair did not need washing, then per...
5 comments
Read more

But I Wanted It

As I've said before , I'm looking for a new place to do youth ministry. Job searching in itself can be a full time task. Unfortunately, no one is paying me to look for a job. And when you haven't had to find a job in 15 years, the whole experience can feel brand new. And nerve-wracking. And quiet. So very, very quiet. I may spend a few hours here and there sending out my resumes and writing cover letters. But the churches I'm sending my information to have their own timeline. And sometimes that timeline does not involve acknowledging my presence. Which is fine, especially if one of the churches I've applied to is reading this right now. I understand those looking for youth pastors will have their own agenda and their own timeline. But it leaves me sitting here with a deafening quiet around me. I am choosing to walk by faith through these days, picturing God working behind the scenes (always behind the scenes) and holding His voice very still, until He is re...
2 comments
Read more