Thoughts from December 2008

I

can’t believe it’s December already. It’s been a challenging year so I’m thinking that with all the challenges used up this year that next year will be amazing. I remember last year, I prayed for a flat screen tv for Christmas. Those things are expensive and I had limited finances. About a week before Christmas, some people that had no idea what I prayed for delivered and set up a 32″ flat screen in my living room. God is so amazing. Just a couple months before that, I had prayed for a 10% raise and got that too. This year, for Christmas, I am praying for a really great job. I was “downsized” in August from the job I had gotten a promotion into last year.
In the meantime, I’m trying to stay busy and to spend time studying my Bible. I used to teach Bible studies/Sunday School classes/women’s retreats and found it invigorating. A lot of things happened since then. I figure I need to get back to spending time with God.
Been reading the Gospel of Mark. Mark 8:1-13 tells about Jesus feeding the four thousand. Here Jesus didn’t directly come out and say to the disciples to feed the crowd like he did earlier. Perhaps He wanted them to say, “Why don’t we feed them like we did the 5,000?” The disciples were still about what it would cost. The other feeding can’t have been that forgetable. Jesus just asked, “What DO you have (how many loaves) that we could feed them?” Perhaps a “start with what you have” idea. Note that they were able to find a couple of fishes to throw into the pot. If we start with what we know we have we may also find that we have more than we thought. The people ate and were satisfied. To me that says they got more than a few crumbs to eat. THEN there were still 7 basketfuls of broken pieces left. Go figure, the initial amount would not have filled one basket.
So, how does this story impact me?
1. Just because it looks impossible, doesn’t mean it is.
2. Take inventory of what I have available to allow God to use.
3. Even though others may not see the possibility, ask them to “sit down” and watch
4. Give thanks and go to work making it happen.
5. Expect to “make a profit”. Allowing God to use what I have is like investing in the stock market and making an amazing return on my investment.