And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.”
Recently, I read the story of the feeding of the five thousand, in Mark's gospel, and was struck by the response of the disciples to the challenge Jesus gave them in contrast to how I have been responding to challenges at work. They looked at Jesus and basically said, what you are asking us to do is impossible, which is good thing to acknowledge. I've been looking at my challenges and saying, OK then, how can I make this happen? And over the past few months, I have not been consistently looking to Jesus to help me. I have been trying to solve too many problems in my own strength and wisdom. How many opportunities for relying on God have I missed? How much extra stress have I taken on myself? Probably more than I should have. Thankfully, God is a God of redemption and of forgiveness. He is faithful, even when I allow my circumstances to become my focus and stop looking to him. He is faithful is calling me back.
God is graciously bringing me back to focusing on him, to recognizing where I have been trying to rely on my own strength, and to recognizing his constant faithfulness and provision. He has provided a part-time resource teacher to help me in the second semester. He has continued to build wonderful relationships between me and my students and my small group girls. He has continued to give me strength while my body battled a series of infections. And he has continued to surround me with friends who ask how I am doing and stop to pray for me. How gracious and merciful is my God!
In my small group, Libby and I were able to spend an evening with the girls in prayer before they left for Christmas break. We had planned for this to go for about half of our time and then end with snacks and fellowship, however, we ended up praying for almost the whole hour and a half. It was a very sweet time with our girls. Last week, we attended a worship night with other girls small groups and had another good time of praising God and praying together. Over the next few weeks, Libby and I will be speaking about beauty and creativity and how we reflect God's image as women.
Over break, I had the opportunity to travel to Israel with a group from BFA. This was a wonderful opportunity, and I am so grateful to have been able to experience this. Being able to see the landscape and visit historical places from the bible was truly incredible.
May you be encouraged to look to Jesus in your circumstances and recognize his past and present faithfulness. May we meditate on the incredible grace that comes through his finished work on the cross.
Please Pray...
that I would rely on Jesus and seek him in prayer when I face challenges
for a deepening of my love for God
for one of my small group girls who underwent surgery over break and will not return to school until March
for a missionary friend who works in the area and is feeling overwhelmed in her ministry
for full recovery from the infections I fought over break
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