When I leave the house for a trip, I usually assume I’m forgetting something. As I walk out the door, I check to make sure I have my phone and my wallet. With these, I should be able to obtain anything I’m forgetting. I head out with confidence.
This doesn’t really carryover over to the other areas of my life.
I know that I have gifts and abilities (we all do, by the way), but this doesn’t eliminate the feeling that I’m lacking.
I have a seminary education, but I lack all the answers for the hard questions of life. I love the book I published last year, but I lack the sales and reviews I need to launch the next one. I get plenty of sleep, but I lack the energy I need to be productive. Summer is coming, I’d like to lack a few pounds.
It seems I always feel I need more or less. Never do I have just enough. Never am I enough.
Jesus said to them, “When I sent you out without a wallet, bag, or sandals, you didn’t lack anything, did you?”
They said, “Nothing.” – Luke 22:35 (CEB)
When Jesus sent the disciples out, they were certainly lacking some things. He lists them himself. When they were heading out on their trip, I imagine they had big eyes and jumpy stomachs. They didn’t feel equipped for what Jesus was sending them to do.
But in hindsight, they could see that Jesus had provided everything they needed. They were lacking nothing.They had a companion and Jesus’ authority to go out and bring the Good News to the people around them. They didn’t need all the answers or letters of recommendation or even an understanding of what they would encounter.
The disciples were both successful and stumbling in their mission (Jesus told them they would fail sometimes). The goal wasn’t perfection. It was faithfulness.
The goal in life isn't perfection. It's faithfulness. #faith #thankyouJesus #YouAreEnough Click To TweetIn life, we’ll be both successful and stumbling. By definition, our humanity keeps us from being perfect. But if we have faith in who Jesus is, we will lack nothing. Therefore, let us go out this day in confidence. For we have all we need.
In life, we’ll be both successful and stumbling. By definition, our humanity keeps us from being perfect. But if we have #faith in who #Jesus is, we will lack nothing. We have all we need. Click To Tweet————————-
Thanks for reading my contribution to this week’s Five Minute Friday prompt.
The disciples are a great example of stepping out, trusting God, not worrying about what they lacked, but trusting him to provide what they needed.
And if we feel we are lacking when we set out, hopefully we can remember how God provides in the past.
Thank you, Michelle…stumbling in and out of that desert these days.
May your faithfulness sustain you.
We have to put behind us the times we have stumbled and remember the successes.
And learn from the stumbles, too.