Amelia perched on the edge of the raised bed in my parents’ yard emptying tiny black specks from the pods of a collard my dad let go to seed. She is usually more likely to tear through like a tornado, scattering everything in her path but after a morning with her cousins and a good lunch on the back porch where the two new gray kittens, Linus and Lucy, romped playfully, she sat apart from everyone else, drowsily shelling seeds for the longest time. When it was time to head home, she regained her usual playfulness, at least for long enough to say her goodbyes, to help my dad return Linus and Lucy to their safe spot in the barn, and to trek to the basement with her mom to select her goodie from the candy dish. Even the mini pack of Skittles did not offer enough sugar to keep her awake for long. Within minutes, Amelia dozed soundly for the better part of our drive home.
Amelia recharged her battery while sitting quietly and concentrating on a task but still she napped on the way home. This is VBS week in our church. Vacation Bible School is one of those rare occasions when everything is designed to point to Jesus. It’s the ultimate in-town mission trip where you wash and wear one shirt for an entire week and each volunteer gets to experiment with their concept of flexibility. Bible stories and memory verses are gospel-centered and even the arts, crafts, songs, snacks and games are meant to direct attention to our Savior who is still making all things new. There’s never a dull moment. Everyone is running full tilt, adults and kids alike, energized by the excitement and the motivated by the brevity. We have a window of opportunity so we make the most of it, then like Amelia, we will need a nap.
If we’re not careful, if we do not recognize our own limitations, we can transition too quickly from big projects, including ministry projects without necessary rest and reflection and end up walking through hours and days in a kind of fog, distracted and half awake to the world around us. Whether we call it survival mode, biding our time or we’re simply self-absorbed, life can slip by, taking with it precious opportunities to share the love of Christ in our everyday worlds to the people we encounter organically. A real danger of having completely exhausted ourselves is that we become impatient, short tempered, not reflecting the fruit of God’s spirit to those around us, especially those closest to us. I speak from experience.
Before Amelia sat shelling seeds, she and her cousins had been helping me harvest seed pods from the collard plant for my dad. We worked busily together for half an hour before returning a nice sized freezer bag of tiny black seeds to the house. Thomas, Timothy and Ezra wandered to the front of my dads shop to play in the area of creek sand my dad hauled in for the great grandchildren. Usually Amelia would have been in the lead but she had found something more satisfying than digging and she sat quietly recharging before reentering the fray.
I am reminded of Mary and Martha. I am often reminded of these sisters whose very real lives were captured in scripture. Most days I relate more readily to Martha with all her busy preparations, even at times to her desire for her activity to be justified and validated by Jesus. I have also learned that even when choosing to sit at Jesus’s feet comes more from discipline than from desire in the moment, He always rewards my attention and effort with more than all I could ask or imagine. (Luke 10:38-42, Ephesians 3:20)
“O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.
You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
You see me when I travel and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.
You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!”
Psalms 139:1-6 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.139.1-6.NLT
Recognizing my body as the temple where the Holy Spirit now dwells should motivate me to rest but I cannot elevate self to the highest authority. Then I become my own idol. Jesus means for me to have a rich and satisfying life. He said as much but He did not mean whatever life I choose. (John 10:10) He has good plans for me and He helps me to live into them as I surrender each moment to Him.
““I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me,”
John 10:14 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.10.14.NLT
We learn to follow Jesus when we recognize His voice, acknowledging that He is God and He not only has ultimate authority over us but that He has good plans for us. He walked ahead of us, showing us the way. He is with us by the power of His Spirit in us, and He has gone before us to prepare an eternal place for us. (John 13:15, 14:1-6)
“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.
For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.”
Colossians 3:1-4 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/col.3.1-4.NLT
Our greatest temptations are no different than Christ’s. The enemy tried to get Jesus to focus on His own physical needs, he wanted Jesus to put His power on display and to grasp for something that was already His. All these temptations He answered with scripture. God sent angels to take care of Jesus. He would display His awesome power on the cross and in an empty tomb. God has given him all authority. How often do I struggle unnecessarily for what is already mine in Christ when that time and energy could be better spent?
“While he was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume and poured it over his head.
The disciples were indignant when they saw this.
“What a waste!” they said. “It could have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.”
But Jesus, aware of this, replied, “Why criticize this woman for doing such a good thing to me?
You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.
She has poured this perfume on me to prepare my body for burial.
I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.””
Matthew 26:7-13 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.26.7-10.NLT
““Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.
For I was hungry, and you fed me.
I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink.
I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.
I was naked, and you gave me clothing.
I was sick, and you cared for me.
I was in prison, and you visited me.’
“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you?
Or thirsty and give you something to drink?
Or a stranger and show you hospitality?
Or naked and give you clothing?
When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’”
Matthew 25:34-40 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.25.34-40.NLT
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”
Psalms 139:23-24 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.139.23-24.NLT
Testimony ~Terrian https://youtu.be/qmGumL_rhi0?si=k2pM1IEoDIXFONmD
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