In Matthew, Jesus tells the parable of the bridegroom and the ten
virgins. Jesus warns, “Stay awake, for
you know neither the day nor the hour”. (Matthew 25:1-13) This warning is
hitting close to home these days as I pray for my brother who, from most
reports, is close to that hour.
Parables of judgment almost always seem to make me nervous. I worry; am I measuring up? How do parables of judgment fit with grace?
I have up times in my relationship with God. And I have down times. Times where I feel like God is distant and I
can’t reach Him. I sometimes wonder…. If Christ returns during one of my down
times, what happens? Will I be one of
the virgins who didn’t bring any oil for their lamps? Will my faith be sufficient?
It seems my faith (my oil) requires constant replenishing. I worry, will I have enough? Yet nowhere have I ever heard God say, I’m
only going to give you this much faith, so you’d better hoard it. It seems the supply of faith available to us
is inexhaustible. So why do I have the
fear? Faith is definitely a choice. It is both incredibly powerful, but also
fragile. Worry tends often to squeeze
the faith and hope out of my life. Worry
can rob us of our faith. When we worry,
we lose our joy and it affects our ability to serve God. When we simply trust God and put God first in
our lives, then we glorify Him and our joy can return.
An image that keeps running through my mind as I write this is one
of Lily when she was learning to walk. I’m
sure every parent and grandparent has done the same thing. Mom or Dad will sit on the floor and “aim”
the kid toward the other parent. The kid
stumbles across the floor and launches herself into her mom or dad’s arms. If they were not there to catch her, she
would definitely land face first on the floor.
And yet she plays the “game” again and again and every time she will
look back at the “launching” parent and grin with such pride and joy at her
accomplishment. There isn’t any thought
in her head about, “what if they didn’t catch me?” She simply trusts completely.
How I wish I had that kind of faith and trust. It is so easy to fall into the worry trap and
lose our joy.
My prayer today is for those of us who stumble with our faith and
trust. Instead of expecting the worst,
we should be preparing for the best.
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