what if . . .

I love it when God knows exactly what I need, even when I don’t . . . even when I don’t recognize that there is a need, He knows.  And as He shows me, I come to find out that there was a need inside of me all along. Often times its just that I don’t recognize it. Yet, when He begins to reveal it, it’s a beautiful moment.

It’s a moment filled with such candor, yet, is there still part of me, amidst my own flesh, that feels discomfort towards the challenge, towards the task, towards the truth that He is revealing to me?
I realized that I was letting the what ifs overshadow the truth that God was revealing to me during that moment. I was letting fear get in the way of God doing something great, and it hit me hard. I was holding onto my own weaknesses as if they were more important than God was at that moment.

what if
How could I even think those two words at such a time?

Earlier I came across this article, and as I read through it I felt as if I had written every word of it myself. I could relate to what the author was writing about. . . I was overwhelmed with a sense of comfort and of disbelief. As I finished the article I read,

And so I find comfort in that: in learning to trust God a little more each day. Maybe it will always be a fight for me, a fight to keep the anxiety back, but the point is, I can fight it. I don’t have to let it consume me. And that is what God calls me to do each day: trust more, fear less. And I am on that journey.

I sigh optimistically, knowing I am on that journey too, but knowing full well that it is possible.
a b s o l u t e l y   p o s s i b l e

chapter 16

I would like to introduce you to Chapter 16 of Max Lucado’s book Out Live Your Life.

Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.
- Matthew 25:40

   At 7:51 a.m., January 12, 2007, a young musician took his position against a wall in a Washington, D.C. metro station. He wore jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and a Washington Nationals baseball cap. He opened a violin case, removed his instrument, threw a few dollars and pocket change into the case as seed money, and began to play.

He played for the next forty-three minutes. He performed six classical pieces. During that time 1,097 people passed by. They tossed in money to the total of $32.17. Of the 1,097 people, seven—only seven—paused longer than sixty seconds. And of the seven, one—only one—recognized the violinist Joshua Bell.

Three days prior to this metro appearance staged by the Washington Post, Bell filled Boston’s Symphony Hall, where just fairly good tickets went for $100 a seat. Two weeks after the experiment, he played for a standing-room-only audience in Bethesda, Maryland. Joshua Bell’s talents can command $1,000 a minute. That day in the subway station, he barely earned enough to buy a cheap pair of shoes.
You can’t fault the instrument. He played a Stradivarius built in the golden period of Stradivari’s career. It’s worth $3.5 million. You can’t fault the music. Bell successfully played a piece from Johann Sebastian Bach that Bell called “one of the greatest achievements of any man in history.”
But scarcely anyone noticed. No one expected majesty in such a context. Shoe-shine stand to one side, kiosk to the other. People buying magazines, newspapers, chocolate bars, and lotto tickets. And who had time? This was a workday. This was the Washington workforce. Government workers mainly, on their way to budget meetings and management sessions. Who had time to notice beauty in the midst of busyness? Most did not.
Most of us will someday realize that we didn’t either. From the perspective of heaven, we’ll look back on these days—these busy, cluttered days—and realize, That was Jesus playing the violin. That was Jesus wearing the ragged clothes. That was Jesus in the orphanage . . . in the jail . . . in the cardboard shanty. The person needing my help was Jesus.
. . .
Compassion has a dozen advocates.
But for the Christian, none is higher than this: when we love those in need, we are loving Jesus. It is a mystery beyond science, a truth beyond statistics. But it is a message that Jesus made crystal clear: when we love them, we love him. .
Who would want to miss a chance to do that?    

                                                                                                                            

O Lord, where did I see you yesterday . . . and didn’t recognize you? Where will I encounter you today . . . and fail to identify you?