Simple Thoughts from a Profound Source

This sleepy, rainy Sunday on the coast has given me the opportunity to reflect on where I am and where the past few months have brought me. Earlier I took my wandering heart and tired eyes to a coffee shop in Manzanita. On my way Needtobreathe sang the words, "In a daydream, I couldn't live like this," and as I settled down by a window with a hot cup of coffee and brought my thoughts to focus on my First Love I found those words to be true for me right now.

My eyes roamed the lush, green coastal landscape outside and my heart felt fuller than it ever had before. A rush of gratitude tried to escape through laughter. I wondered, for millionth time, how I came to be here, living in Oregon, with this great job. A question then popped into my head, would I have the faith I claim if it weren't for God's miraculous work in my own life? This was followed by the question, would I be this close to God if it weren't for the hard times I have been through? I think the answer is yes. I can say this with confidence because I know that whatever would have happened differently in my life, God still would have brought beautiful things out of any circumstance. This gives me hope for whatever may come in the future as well.

As usual, these profound and humbling feelings of gratitude stirred within me a call to share God's love with everyone. God longs for his people and I pray that He uses my life to be glorified and to draw people closer to Him.

This morning I was struck by a passage in John 4:38. Jesus tells his disciples, "I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor." Christ, through his suffering and death, as well as the prophets before him, did the hard work of sowing the seeds, and Jesus' disciples got the benefit of seeing thousands upon thousands of people repent and believe. At least, that was my interpretation of the passage. I took this as a reminder, as I head into a summer of ministering to youth, that it is God who does the hard work of sowing seeds in people's hearts. I am, we all are, commissioned with the work of coming alongside God as God sows and reaps when the harvest is ripe. Like a ray of sunshine, we are just an extension of the brilliant Source of Light.