Winter Break

So, it's been awhile since I last updated. Mostly because it's been a real busy time for me. This last couple of weeks, I've been pretty busy packing up my stuff and moving. Also, I've been busy working on training for becoming an assistant scheduler.

But I have a few thoughts about the holiday season, so I thought I would post them up now.

Christmas is an interesting season for Southern Californians. My roommate from Michigan has been complaining about how cold it should be, but the weather is totally what I have expected. But rain and cold weather has become something that I realize affects the homeless much more than you or me.

If it rains, I get pretty upset because it means I can't go outside. And I know in LA it doesn't happen that often, so it's an inconvenience. Especially if it rains when I'm driving, because it means that traffic will be 3x more, and I will be late. But in comparison when it rains on a homeless person, their cardboard house gets wet, or the tarp they use to keep warm no longer provides heat. It is a sad fact of life that people on the street not only are inconvenienced but in fact have a higher rate of mortality on the streets when it rains.

I don't just talk about this to make people feel bad about what God has given them, but to realize what is happening around them. It is easy to complain about what we lack, but every person who has the opportunity to read this blog live in the top 2% of earners of money in the world. I have begun to realize that life is not about "keeping up with the Joneses." It's about how we need to help those around us. And speaking of how to help others... I think a common mistake about what I do is how effective my ministry is. (not to say it is not effective, I believe what we do really does change lives)

But sometimes it can seem that what we do is not helping in the grand scheme of things. But as I am reminded time and time again, God doesn't ask us for the effectiveness of our ministry but for our faithfulness. My mom (yeah my mom) sent this to me today, and I thought it appropriate to my post:

A man was sleeping at night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light, and God appeared. The Lord told the man he had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might.

So, this the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sun up to sun down; his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all of his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain. Since the man was showing discouragement, the Adversary (Satan) decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the weary mind, "You have been pushing against that rock for a long time, and it hasn't moved." Thus, giving the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure.

These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man. "Why kill myself over this?" he thought. "I'll just put in my time, giving just the minimum effort; and that will be good enough." And that is what he planned to do, until one day he decided to make it a matter of prayer and take his troubled thoughts to the Lord. "Lord," he said, "I have labored long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock by half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?"

The Lord responded compassionately, "My friend, when I asked you to serve Me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all of your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to Me with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But, is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back sinewy and brown, your hands are callused from constant pressure, your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much, and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. Yet you haven't moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom. This you have done. Now I, my friend, will move the rock."

At times, when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own intellect to decipher what He wants, when actually what God wants is just a simple obedience and faith in Him. By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains, but know that it is still God who moves mountains.