Keeping Our Eyes on God

A few weeks ago I wrote a post called Wax On, Wax Off which was inspired by the original Karate Kid movie. As I was watching this movie, I discovered some interesting spiritual applications and wrote a post about it.

I didn't have time to watch the entire movie that night, but I recorded it on my DVR to watch later. I finally watched the rest of the movie, and was once again inspired by the words of Miyagi.

You see, Daniel was in training. Whether he realized it or not, all the hard work he was doing was giving him endurance and teaching him skills. Evenso, Miyagi had to continue to correct Daniel.

At this point in the movie, Miyagi finally shows Daniel how all the hard work he has done prepared him for what will come next.  Each chore--waxing the car, sanding the floor, and painting the fence--taught Daniel basic karate moves.

Then at the end of the first real karate lesson, Miyagi bowed. A stunned Daniel mirrored his teacher's move and bowed, however he looked down at the floor. Miyagi quickly grabbed Daniel's face, he pointed to his own eyes and said, "Always look eye."

This isn't a perfect analogy, however it did bring to mind that I should always keep my eye on my Teacher (God) and His path for me. It also reminds me of Solomon's wise advice to his son in Proverbs 4:25-27...

Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.
Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.
Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.

Give What You Have

I was reading this VERY FAMILIAR Bible story last week. Some Bible stories are so familiar to us that we have a tendency rush through them with the "been there, done that" mentality. Really, the feeding of 5,000 is one of those Bible stories we learn as children and hear over and over and over. It's a great story of a miracle, but often the focus of the story is about the miracle of Jesus.

For your reading pleasure, here's the account of this story from the passage I was reading. Go ahead, I'll wait until you're done...

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand - Matthew 14.13-21

As soon as Jesus heard the news, he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone. 

But the crowds heard where he was headed and followed on foot 

 from many towns. Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, 

and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

That evening the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, 

and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go 

to the villages and buy food for themselves.”

But Jesus said, “That isn’t necessary—you feed them.”

“But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish!” they answered.

“Bring them here,” he said. Then he told the people to sit down on the grass. 

Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, 

and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, 

he gave the bread to the disciples, who distributed it to the people.  

They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up

 twelve baskets of leftovers. About 5,000 men were fed that day,

 in addition to all the women and children!

So, did you see anything new in this passage? When I was reading this story last week, I suddenly noticed something I hadn't seen before. I don't know if it was the translation I was reading (NLT), if it was the Matthew passage instead of another Gospel, or maybe it was the Holy Spirit teaching me. Perhaps all three!

Here's what jumped out at me while reading it this time...

The disciples had this extremely practical idea: Let the people go home before dark to eat. I'm sure the disciples were shocked when Jesus told them, "You feed them" (verse 16). I'm imagining the disciples were a bit puzzled by that response. They already knew they did not have enough food available to feed that many people. Jesus asks them to bring what they have.

Just bring what you already have...

What you already have is enough...

Whatever God is calling me to do, I have enough. Just bring it.

You and I may not feel we are fully prepared, fully trained, or fully funded, before setting out to do something the Lord has called us to do. I know I often feel woefully inadequate, but actually that's probably a better place to be because God gets the glory in whatever happens instead of me.

There may be times when we are fully prepared. But, more often than not, we may be called to give from our weakness--inadequate as it may be.

By bringing what we have, Jesus blesses it and multiplies it--for His glory. 

Recommended Resource for Singles

Another website I subscribe to recommended this short video and was intrigued by the title: Dealing With Disappointment When You're Single. Steve DeWitt recorded this video; he's a pastor and was single into his 40s. This guy knows what he's talking about. I truly appreciate where he's coming from and his sound, biblical advice in this video.

Click Here to watch Video

I also appreciated hearing Steve say, "Have you noticed the real "experts" on singleness are married people? They say things like, 'Surrender this to the Lord, because until you do God's not going to bring you a wife.'"

In other words, Jesus needs us to jump through certain hoops and follow these seven or ten steps before a mate will be given to a Christian. Huh??? I don't think so.

The "expert" advice we singles often get are from well-intentioned people who simply want to help, but sometimes they just don't get it. I remember being told once that I didn't market myself well. (Hellooo...I'm not a commodity.)

I think this is a good reminder to all of us--me included--that we can't hand out advice like Tic-Tacs. If we really don't know the answer, say so. Let's be careful not to make something up to fill the silence. Sometimes people just want to be heard--to know that someone understands. But, I digress... 

Ultimately, if we have Christ, we have all that we need. Watch this short vlog on the subject of Dealing With Disappointment When You're Single.

(in)Joy! -- Encouragement for Single Women

www.incourage.me

 

Join me at (in)Joy! an online community of single, professional women who desire to grow in God's truth and discover what it means to daily find our joy in Him.

I will be co-leading the group this session as we do a book study, share prayer requests, and encourage each other. This group is part of the (in)courage community of women who meet on Facebook. I joined this group one year ago as a participant and enjoyed having like-minded women to communicate with on a regular basis. It's been interesting to see how God has opened the door for me to go from being a regular member to now leading this group.

Groups will be limited to 30 participants. The Fall session begins September 23rd, 2013. Please register today at (in)Joy!  Hope to see you there!!


P.S. If you're not a single, professional woman, no worries!  (in)courage has 70 different groups of women with common interests such as creative writing, empty-nesters, stay-at-home moms, and support groups for caregivers. Check all the groups out today!