Encounter God

We live in times when a number of things bring anxiety, frustration and fear to our hearts. We are worried about the economy and how that affects our own lives and the life of our church. We are fearful about the moral climate, and the impact on our children and grandchildren. The political arena generates many emotions, chief of which might be anger, frustration and a spirit of anxiety, as we wonder where our country and our national leaders are headed.

Like our spiritual ancestors, we wonder where God is in all of this. We pray. We study God's Word. We worship. We serve. And we pray some more. But things do not seem to be changing in a positive direction.

Regardless of our temperament and personality type, most of us, when faced with these kinds of issues and concerns, are people who believe 1+1 should equal 2. We like to assess, evaluate, measure, plan, strategize, and then assess  all over again, often to the point of obsession. We want to do all that we can to fix the problems. We like to have answers and solutions. And somewhere in this well-intentioned process, we seem to leave God out. Or maybe, we try to box God into our way of looking at the world.

We forget Biblical teaching and narrative stories about God's interaction with mankind, since the beginning of time. We forget stories like Jesus feeding the five thousand with five loaves and two fish. We assess that challenge and we come up with 5+2=7 items for 5,000 men plus families. Jesus says 5+2=5,000 (plus) with a remainder of 12 baskets full of bread and fish. That is not logical! That sounds foolish! That sounds like something a preacher or a prophet might say on a Sunday morning. But it is not the way we would look at that situation. And it is not the way the early disciples looked at the situation. They worried about a budget that they could not meet and funds they either did not have, or did not want to spend that way (8 months' plus wages). Unlike Jesus, their mentor, teacher and Savior, they did not understand that God is bigger than their problems and concerns. They did not get that God is faithful, even when we are not. They failed to grasp what faith was all about - trusting God to deal with what seems to be the impossible and insurmountable - because with man much is impossible, but with God all things are possible, because he is the author of the whole universe.

As we face our personal issues and concerns, and those facing us as a church, will we get it any better than the 12? I sure hope so. But that will require bold faith. ridiculous prayers and foolish acts of faith in this very confusing 21st century.

May God help our unbelief and especially our lack of trust.

Encounter the Word

• John 6:1-15
• Matthew 14:13-21
• Mark 6:32-44

Also ... when you get a chance, take a look at Tim Shoulder's new blog at

http://www.sugargrove.org/timsblog .

And check out the church's Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/SugarGroveChurchofChrist .