Everyday Needs

Mark 8:1-4 “About this time another large crowd had gathered, and the people ran out of food again. Jesus called his disciples and told them, ‘I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way. For some of them have come a long distance.” NLT

Every work day of my job began the same. I would drive to the parking lot of my building early on purpose so I would have time to pray before going in. Dread filled me with the knowledge that I would have to face him and hear him rant about how stupid I was every single day. The truth was, he treated everybody that way. There was certainly no favoritism around there. The bad thing about it was that it was a Christian environment. My co-workers and I did our best to maintain the peace and to walk on eggshells around him, but you never quite knew when he would blow. Even in our devotion time, he would use any opportunity to put us down. One time he even held a devotion on respecting authority and prayed over us that we as his employees would “know our place.”  He would start tapping his foot and curling his lip in an annoying way that let everyone know when he was mad. I hated it here, and there was no end to it in sight. But for some reason, God had me here, and I didn’t know why. I still don’t know why to be exact. But I know that every day, God gave me the grace I needed to face him, and He still gives me that same sweet strength to live the life He’s given me.

One day before going into work, I searched the Scriptures for something to hold onto as I worked my shift. Mark 8 was just the nourishment I needed. Jesus is again faced with a large crowd, this time 4000 instead of 5000. Scholars say that these two instances were indeed different ones. All four gospels record the feeding of the 5000 with the 5 loaves of bread and two fish, but only Mark and Matthew record this one. At any rate, at the first feeding, the Scriptures say that Jesus had compassion because the people were like lost sheep without a shepherd. This time, however, Jesus has compassion on them simply because they were hungry. They were physically hungry, and Jesus was concerned. What’s more, they were apparently in the middle of nowhere and had been so for three whole days. There was nowhere to get the food, and the disciples had apparently forgotten that they were in the presence of a miracle-worker who had done far greater miracles than this. Nevertheless, Jesus worked through those doubting disciples to provide for the total needs, both spiritual and physical, of the entire crowd.

Now isn’t that just like Jesus? He’s not just concerned about our spiritual needs, although this is incredibly important. He’s concerned about our every day, physical needs too. There is nothing too big for God to handle, and there is nothing too small for Him either. He cares whether or not we’re nourished and healthy or whether we’re lifeless and dull, burdened down with unhealthy environments or food. 

As it relates to health, I think God is keenly interested in how we fuel our body, His creation, for the day. If we are truly nourished with good things, we will be better equipped to handle stressful situations, even those involving others who label themselves as a Christian but live another way. It's not always our overall health that is His focus. We must equip ourselves to face every single day with good nutrition.

As it relates to our spiritual life, Jesus is still the Messiah who has compassion on us and who will nourish us with His presence and His love. No matter what/who we face, we can rest with assurance that He is still the same compassionate Shepherd who feels our pain. He understands, and He cares.

Take some time today to read the entire chapter and marvel again at how good our God is and has compassion for our every day needs.

Encouragement for Today:
Mark 5:43 “Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone what had happened, and then he told them to give her something to eat.” NLT

Matthew 5:3 “God blesses those who realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of heaven is given to them.” NLT

Thanksgiving

There are a lot of people on Facebook right now giving thanks every day during the day of November for something or someone in their life. It's refreshing really, to read thankful comments as opposed to complaints, grumbles, bickering, and just down-right nastiness.

I have noticed however, that this being the 13th day of the month, a lot of people have dropped off the "thankful wagon." Are we really a people in the United States that is so consumed with having more that we've run out of things for which to be thankful? Have we gotten so used to the luxuries of life that we don't even notice them anymore and we're no longer thankful?

These last few months have been hard, and I'm having more hard days it seems than good ones. I could start a list here of the things that are wrong, and honestly, I have made lists before in all the ways I'm failing. No joke. My list-making tendencies took over that day. But I won't give in to the tricks of the enemy. He wants me to focus on the negative and overlook the sometimes small blessings of everyday life.

Back to the Facebook thankfulness thing...I honestly am running out of big things to be thankful for. But does it really matter if they're grand, big, and impressive? God meets our needs in the smallest of ways sometimes, and really, does He even owe us anything at all?

So here it is. Next week, we will celebrate the American holiday of Thanksgiving. On that day, my husband, my kids, and I will remember the American holiday, but I am committed more than ever that they will understand what it really means to be thankful. To drive home the concept, I'm going to give a prize to the kid who says, "Thank you," the most during the day. They just don't know it yet.

We will make paper bag Indian vests, Indian headdresses, paper turkeys, paper pilgrim hats, and do as much decorating as my crayon drawer can afford. I will roast a turkey, make southern cornbread dressing, and we'll be miserable all afternoon after eating, but that night, Heath will go to work. Instead of complaining about him having to work on a holiday, we'll be thankful he has a job. The next day, we'll go stand in line at Cabela's to get his gift, and instead of complaining about the crowds, we'll be thankful for the good sale, and we'll be thankful we have the money to purchase a gift of non-necessity.

We have a tendency, even in the Christian tradition, to only request prayer for sickness, negative things, and fear that our nation is turning bad. But what if we asked people to help us thank God for the blessings we've received this year. I think the attitude of gratitude might show just a little more.