Tags
[ I’m co-leading a small group for 10 weeks with an amazing woman at Restoration. We’re 2 weeks into group – here’s a snippet from last week.]
When I arrived at L1’s house a little early to help prepare the meal, she was preoccupied in the basement. In the kitchen, I got preoccupied with worries.
“What should I do to help get this ready? Why can’t I think of anything? As a woman shouldn’t I know what to do here?” My brain buzzed with ideas, “Dessert – no, someone’s bringing that later. Stir the soup – no, what if it shouldn’t be stirred? Get out the butter? Salt? Any condiments?” As I looked around frantically I started to get overwhelmed.
So I filled a pitcher with water.
Turns out, that was exactly the right thing to do.
I feel like this when I have conversations about faith, too. So many questions, ideas, scriptures, and book references shoot like arrows through my head. It’s overwhelming and leaves me feeling useless.
But there’s something simple I can always do.
In John’s telling of Jesus feeding the 5,000 Andrew doubts that a boy’s fish and loaves are worth much, but he brings the boy before Jesus anyway. And that’s all he does. He brings him to Jesus.
I can do that. I may worry that telling a friend Jesus loves them sounds trite in the face of their troubles. Or wonder if they’ll break off all communication if I actual say that Jesus sacrificially died and was raised to life to reconcile us to a loving God. But it’s true.
It’s simply bringing my friends to Jesus, “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
