What are we waiting for?

I just read this article at the "Gifted for leadership" site. It made me think of what I journalled about this morning.

Luke 19:1-10 is the story of Zacchaeus - the tax collector. Verses 3-4 says 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. (NIV)

Zacchaeus was faced with a problem. He knew he wanted to see Jesus, he knew he was at the right place at the right time, he knew this was his opportunity but he also knew that he was too short and circumstances were against him.

This is sometimes like us in the church. We know we want people to see Jesus, we know we're in the right place at the right time and we know we have the opportunity to make a difference but that sometimes our situation and circumstances are against us. When we're faced with those situations our first response is often to pray and ask God to remove the obstacles for us or to discern what God want us to do in a particular situation, or wait until we hear God's leading. I'm not saying this is wrong but I wonder if sometimes we do these things so we don't have to take responsibility for the situation we find ourselves in. (This is different to trusting God)

Zacchaeus could have prayed that God would miraculously make him taller, he could have prayed for the crowd of people to part at the most opportune time. He could have hoped that if he stood his ground, somehow, as Jesus passed, he would see Zacchaeus in the crowd...it would be fate....it was meant to be.... Alternatively Zacchaeus could have grumbled about the unfair state of affairs that there are too many tall people in the world and why did God have to make him short?!

Instead, Zacchaeus used his initiative and he climbed a tree. There was no miracle, no leading from God, no bringing about justice to a bad situation. He climbed a tree, he saw Jesus and his life was transformed.

Sometimes we have to stop praying for a miracle or divine intervention and actually get up and do something ourselves. We need to stop grumbling about our situation and do something about it. It doesn't mean we've stopped trusting God or we aren't listening to God. Sometimes when we are faced with a tough situation we need to be active and be the change that we need.

Seeing Beauty

I've been very busy the last few weeks and was really looking forward to the long weekend to just relax and spend time with the family. I didn't have anything planned and enjoyed the idea of being schedule free.

My weekend didn't turn out as planned.....6:30am Saturday morning I received a call from our Youth Pastor asking if it was possible for me to go to SAYCO (youth camp) as an adult helper.

It was actually quite easy to rearrange my weekend so I could go to camp, the real problem was actually psyching myself up for camp! I AM NOT A CAMPER! I haven't camped since highschool. There was one time where we pitched a tent in our backyard for one night so the kids could experience camping but I don't think you could really call it camping. I know that I am not the outdoors, enjoying nature, sleeping on the floor type of person.

So as I stood watching tents go up, seeing the walk needed to get from the tent to the toilets, noticing the clouds overhead and realising there wasn't any coffee at our campsite, reality hit that this was going to be a loooong weekend.

When you're in an uncomfortable situation it can be easy to see the negatives, to grumble inwardly or to think about the things you're missing out on. Lack of coffee can also do this to a person.

This could have happened to me......but fortunately Ralph Mayhew was the speaker at SAYCO this year. One of Ralph's speaking spots was on Seeing the Beauty. Ralph had broken his arm after falling from a skateboard and he shared the ten top responses he has had from people regarding his broken arm and the fact that he'd broken his arm by falling off a skateboard. Some of the responses had been "You wont get any sympathy from me" and "You've got no one to blame but yourself". It took a response from a stranger who thought it was cool that Ralph would break his arm falling off a skateboard for Ralph to receive a positive response to his hurt, embarrassment and brokenness. He went on to talk about how when we have Jesus in our lives we can see the beauty in the world where others aren't able see beauty. (This is my interpretation of it after a couple of sleep deprived nights)

This talk was just what I needed. Instead of focusing on my uncomfortableness at camping and the ugliness of being sleep deprived,I decided to see beauty around me. I saw youth working together to create a camp site, I saw youth supporting each other as they went to the different workshops, I saw youth worshiping God and encouraging others, I saw youth using their gifts and skills and I saw community being formed. I would have missed this if I had dwelt on my discomfort.

There was so much beauty to see at SAYCO and I know I was privileged to have been called upon early Saturday morning to be part of Seeing Beauty.