Tripping Over Typeset

The morning fog is deep and settled.

The sun is waking up the world.  All is quiet and still.  The only sound is the crunch of my own feet and the jingle of Della’s tags on her collar.

We see a spider web, brilliant in the morning sun, wet with dew, symmetrically beautiful.

“Mom, why do spiders make webs?”

“To catch their food.”

“How do they catch their food?”

I begin to answer when the creeping thought gnaws at me…How long has it been since I’ve had a moment with him like this?

I’ve been busy.

August has been full.  The summer has been full and the days have rushed by; moving from one activity to the next and in that moving I’ve missed this…I’ve missed him.

We continue to walk.  Quiet and still.

Sitting on the porch, I drink my third cup of coffee.  Now that’s vacation.

I’m lucky on a normal day if I finish one cup by noon.  It gets poured.  I get busy and it grows cold before I return.

The two of them sit on the dock.  My two boys.  Lines wet, feet dangling.

“You got a fish yet?” the young one asks.

“Not yet.”

They sit together. Quiet and still.

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, He said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. ~ Mark 6:31

During a recent staff meeting, my hubby shared with us this verse.

As a staff, we knew we were entering a busy month.  Activities, services, outreach, circus, KidzTurn, picnic.  This would be a busy time.

Jesus’ disciples knew busy times.  A full schedule.  Mark 6 shows them busy.

Jesus gives them warning…a prophet is without honor.  He sends them out, teaching, sharing…and they return tired.  They try to get away, but the crowds follow.

The disciples are tired.

“Send them away,”  the disciples plead.  But Jesus says, “You give them something to eat.”

A heavy ministry season.

We have those at times.  Jesus had those times.

Life gets busy.  And in the busyness, He sustains.

When you think you’re tired and at the end of your rope.  He says, “You give them something to eat.”

• Does He do this to wear us out of ourselves?
• Does He do this to push us beyond our limits?

Sometimes.

Sometimes, He brings us beyond ourselves…and still He provides.

The disciples didn’t live at the place of tired, yet they did arrive there at times.  And Christ allowed it.  Christ brought them to the place of beyond themselves.

There are seasons of busy.  We don’t live there…but there are seasons of it.

And in that season,

• He may ask you to give, when you want to rest.
• He may move you beyond the limits you set.
• He may bring you beyond yourself.

Yet, He’ll never move you beyond His sustainability.

We’ve come through a busy time.  A place beyond ourselves.

And now we rest.

• We rest… seeing the web wet with dew.
• We rest… letting our feet dangle off the deck
• We rest… letting our line get wet.
• We rest… taking in His beauty…quiet and still.