November 05, 2015
The Smallest Witness
Many of us think in terms of
spreading the Gospel to the whole world, reaching our community for Christ, or
bringing someone to salvation. I had not thought in terms of my relationship
with one person impacting their sphere of influence. For instance, I’ve befriended
a single woman and while I sense my Christian witness has touched her life, I
hadn’t considered that my witness might be extended through her to her young children,
co-workers and extended family. I suspect I’ve underestimated the power of the
Spirit to multiply my witness. Jesus said, “Again he said, “What shall we
say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe
it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed
you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and
becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds
of the air can perch in its shade” (Mark 4:30-32 NIV).
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1 comment:
Gail;
-----”A man’s mind plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.” (Prov 16:9) Our plans form around what we need for survival: education. work, shelter, clothing, food and water, transportation, and refreshment. Those of us who have not been socially destroyed by the left-wing purveyors of foolishness see ourselves as causes (with the Lord’s help,) and we see our things for survival as our caused effects (with the Lord’s blessings.) It’s not often that our imaginations wander far enough to flesh out the implication of every effect also being another cause to what it touches. Therefore, like links in a chain, our activities send ripples of effects down the chain. Yet, for the most part, our minds remain rather stationary around the cause and effect connection that is the goal of our current activity.
-----But the chain is not a simple chain of two connections for each link. Our activities touch many things at once, therefore they cause many effects at once such that the chains formed are not like a tow chain, but are more like chain mail, spreading out in all directions. Into this the Lord plays. Our purposes are mostly directed at some current situation, and usually for some temporal outcome. His purposes are vast. His attention focuses on every link of the chain mail at once. His intentions involve every person causing links and being impacted by links. He knows them all, their needs, their situations, their intentions, and tendencies. And He directs every step taken. Thus He can have enormous influence on the effects of our doings.
-----But what about free will? Doesn’t His direction of the steps diminish free will? What if you chose a path paralleling an escarpment. What if, for some reason, you always like to step on the right edge of the path with your right foot. What if, while enjoying your stroll, you came to a place where the right half of twenty feet of the path had been washed away. You’re not going to be able to put your right footsteps there now. Of course, that is an interference with your free-will. It distinguishes you as not God, while at the same time it distinguishes God as God, who sent the rain to wash out the path’s right side to direct your right footsteps onto the middle of the path. Your free will is in choosing the path. The placement of your steps belongs to Him.
-----So, we are given prayer to entreat Him about the possibilities of foot placements along our paths. For what purpose do we pray? We certainly should pray that those placements will be uncomplicated and successful in fulfilling our needs. But even more important is the prayer, “…Thy kingdom come…” The prayer for our steps to be ordered by Him in such a manner that what we are doing will have good effects upon others as well, and the prayers for Him to direct the steps of those around us so that what we do can have the most effect.
-----Paul said the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Jesus said to seek first the kingdom of heaven. So when the choosing of our paths and the praying for our steps and the steps of other paths crossing ours is effected by the pursuit of what is right, of what makes for peace and is the material for joy, then the rippling effects of our steps through the chain mail become even more pronounced and of better quality. And when the paths we choose are for the spreading of the gospel or for simply scattering fruit of the Spirit, prayer can result in some rather miraculous looking footsteps on paths all around the vicinity, because He like that kingdom-growing stuff.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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