Mark 6:8-9
I have been thinking a lot lately about life. It seems like everywhere I go or whoever I see all I think about is if they are happy or not, what they may do, if they noticed me watching them, etc. Sounds kind of silly I know, but I am one of those people who can literally sit at a mall for hours and watch people walk by. Don’t get me wrong, I like to shop, but when I am shopping in the stores, I find myself watching the people around me just as much. Like right now, I’m Books-A-Million (aka BAM) and I’m trying to figure out if I know the guy near me, if he just has a familiar face, and what is it he’s typing on his computer.
Meanwhile, I need to be working on a Bible Study I am writing for Auxano Press (When I get it done, I will let you all know and will send you a free copy of it if you want…) Anyway, I just don’t feel equipped today to do what it is I am supposed to be doing. To be completely blunt, sometimes I feel like I am ready to face the writing world and other days I’m not. Today, I feel defeated.
Since I am killing time, I flipped over to Mark to see where I left off from yesterday. The very next verses got my attention pretty quickly. They don’t make all that much sense at first. I was a little confused so I flipped over to Matthew and Luke to read the same story there, and to my surprise it was different. Basically Matthew and Luke have Jesus telling the disciples to not take anything with them along the journey they are about to make, and Mark has Jesus telling the disciples to take a staff. I think what we can take away from that is that they weren’t to take much; they weren’t to prepare, they weren’t to pack a bag for comfort, and they weren’t to take an extra tunic (outfit). They were to just go.
I guess if the disciples had taken a ton of extra stuff they would have thought that their success was about their preparation and what they had done. At least that is what I do. I prepare a ton, and then whether I do great or horrible I relate it to my own preparation.
This isn’t what the Lord needed His disciples to fall back on. He needed them to be confident in the day, and the best way to do that was to eliminate their pressure. I’m sure the disciples placed too much pressure on themselves, so if they couldn’t do that, then the pressure would be gone. They were to face the day with what they have on their back. They no longer could trust and rely on themselves (which would have been a disaster) they were to rely on God (the provider of all things).
You know, I bet the disciples felt inadequate a lot. I bet they thought who are we to do all this for Jesus. Or better yet, when they were to cast out demons I bet they were like, “What the heck?” But to make a long story short, they did it. They showed up, and did what they were called to do and let God worry about the rest. Today, tomorrow, next week, and the week after that, etc, we all are to do the same thing.
Just show up for the day and the Lord WILL take care of all the rest.