Shake off the dust

Frustration is an experience, that even when we’ve done all we know to do, we can still end up feeling totally frustrated. It is that feeling, that there is no way to get around the issue you attempted to solve or those you intended to help. Maybe you’ve planned, maybe you even over planned. You built contingencies for the contingence. When you’ve gone to that extreme measure, the last feeling you want to experience, is knowing that nothing you did mattered. Throwing my hands up, giving up, or quitting is not in my DNA. Yet, I have found myself in this very spot, on more than two or three occasions in life. Matthew chapter 10, verse 14, reads: “And whosever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when you depart out of that house, or city, shake off the dust on your feet”. Responsibility carries a heavy work load. I believe the burden of responsibility starts off light. We make a decision to go help out, or we make a decision to just check on someone or on a situation and we find ourselves engaged, passioned with energy to be of cheer and aid to our friend. But we end up being so very frustrated because of a lack of acceptable progress or even reasoning on the behalf of others. It kinda a very weird twist how others can so easily impact our state of being. Giving advice, sharing “best practices”, or relating current situations with previous experiences is often a great resource for understanding and direction to current problems. ` Jesus instructed His disciples to go two by two when they went out into the world. He did this because it is always good to go with a companion who is at the ready to help. Two minds are better than one, someone, somewhere said. Sounds like solid thinking to me. It’s practical advice that could and should work. If you have ever been 4-wheeling up in the mountains, then I’m sure you know what it is like to get dusty and even muddy for that matter. A dusty trail will certainly leave you with a layer of dirt covering all about your person, your machine, even your ears, nose and eyes will leave you with dust particles, everywhere. When you finally stop riding or driving on that dusty trail, the first think we attempt to do is shake off. We will pop our shirts, slap our hats against our jeans, we will do anything we can to get the dust off of us. Sadly, the one steps that will be required for us to get clean is a shower and putting our clothes in washer . This scripture from Matthew 10:14 instructs us to “shake off the dust”. This is not the only place in scripture where this instruction is given. I like the visual of this instruction. The visual works for me because I done this before. That is, attempt to shake off the dust. The one side effect is that even when attempting to shake off the dust, we will still discover dust that has remained. I’ll confess I’ve even showered and still discovered dust that remained! This instruction that Jesus was giving to the disciples with this “…shake off the dust” comment, was not really about dust. It is a comment about obedience. We Christians have the tendency to take on the weight of the world upon our shoulders. This is activity of taking on the weight of the world, its not only unhealthy for us personally, by no where in scripture does Jesus even suggest that is our responsibility. Our duty, as a Christian, is not about producing results. Our duty is obedience to God’s commands and instructions. Results are always the responsibility of the Holy Spirit. Frustration can easily beset us, but we should never be dismayed, unless we are not being obedient to God’s leadership. Then we can be frustrated all day, at ourselves. If we have exhausted following God’s with all our might and strength, then you have done all you can do. “..shake off the dust”, and wait for God’s next instructions. There is nothing more to expect of yourself. Until then

Three's for your considerations

There are many things about faith that run in three’s. Faith, hope and love being three often quoted examples. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the three biggest foundational examples. Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego are my personal favorite of three’s. Here is one more example for good measure. Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. I have created a list of three’s in the Bible over the years and I’m sure you have some that you’ve considered and memorized from your studies in scripture too. Yesterday, today and forevermore are three more examples and are three very strong adverbs. Adverbs modify verbs and adverbs add distinction and significance. Merriam-Webster uses the word “indeclinable” in describing their use in grammar. In the 56th year of my numbered days of living, I wrote and recorded a collection of my daily thoughts in what I reference as the #56 Series. On day 166 of that year I wrote: “Whatever you hope tomorrow, it starts today”. This is another example of faith in three’s for me. Hope, tomorrow, today. “Whatever” is a pronoun that is a substitute for a noun. Whatever your aspiration are by name, whatever your dreaming, whatever you are thinking, whatever the goal you have set, whatever it maybe, it begins today! Procrastinating is delaying an action that is necessary or even required. Hope should never be delayed, hope should never be placed to the side or easily discarded. Hope is a foundational building block from which whatever can be built upon in faith. Whatever you hope, let that be our focus, let that be our energy and let that be our interest. Too often that which is most important is only addressed after all other failing efforts have been tried and exhausted. So what is your hope? Today is a really important moment and opportunity that we have. For this column, I am considering the word today to be much shorter that the 24 hours which defines a day in time. Today is the 2 minutes and 17 seconds that it took me to re-read this column, so I could write this sentence. What about your “today” 30 minutes ago before you took time to read this article? What about the 30 minutes of time that will follow after you have read my conclusion, until then? The way in which we see and observe time matters. Do we all wish for more hours in a day?…I know I have many times. We may never have all the time we need and our days are filled with many activities. For me, Bible reading, talking on the telephone, writing cards and notes, answering questions from people, listening to others tell stories, and reading newspapers is a part of my daily routine and I didn’t even mention eating, sleeping and driving. Three more three’s for me. Time is unique. Time matters to each of us differently and use of our time is observed differently too. I often hear people say “I am going to get up and leave here, I’ve got things to do today.” Truth is sitting could be a very valuable use of your time. Listening and taking in the scenery can also be a valuable use of time. Getting up and going is also valuable, I know this because I’ve had to tell myself to get moving before too. Whatever it is we are hoping for tomorrow, I am fully convinced it will require some due diligence and effort today. Tomorrow may not come for me or for you, but if it does arrive knocking at our door and we did nothing to prepare for it or nothing to aid our “whatever hope” then if that arrives without your effort, you can rest assured someone did the work for it to arrive. You just became the unexpected beneficiary of someone else’s labor. Don’t just think about tomorrow, get ready for it today. Until then