Is Your Faith Mature Enough to Move You Beyond Your Ability?

2 Kings 6:1-7

With a splash his contribution to the school's construction project came to a quick end. He was fortunate to have been admitted as part of "The Sons of the Prophets," a group of men who were cultivating their spiritual gifts under the teaching of the Prophet Elisha. Having outgrown their quarters the students headed off into the woods near the Jordan River in order to cut down trees for use in constructing a new home. These men figured if each cut down one tree they would have enough wood to build a space where they could comfortably continue their studies.

Having found a good sized tree, one of the men took aim with his borrowed ax. With both hands on the handle he swung. Instead of the sound of splintering wood his efforts were rewarded by a loud 'Splash!' To his dismay the ax head had come off of the handle, launching itself into the rushing waters of the Jordan River. I wonder if he stood for a moment, staring at the handle in disbelief. Perhaps he took a moment to give thanks that no one was hurt. At some point reality set in and he realized he had a problem. He now had to find a way to replace the ax he had borrowed...and broken.

Being a man of God he knew he was required to make amends to his neighbor for the lost ax head. He likely considered himself bound, if not simply by honor, then by the principle behind Exodus 22:14:

"And if a man borrows anything from his neighbor, and it becomes injured or dies, the owner not being with it, he shall surely make good."

Though the command specifically applied to borrowing work animals, the idea of compensating the owner also applied when a tool was lost or broken. For Jews this was (and likely is) an issue of character. As written in Psalm 37:21:

"The wicked borrows but does not pay back..."

Being under conviction the young prophet knew he needed to replace the ax. Based on his reaction he did not seem to have the means to buy a replacement and unlike today's students he could not text his family to ask if they could load up his PayPal account. He was unable to replace the ax and without it he was unable to keep his pledge to his fellow students. Fortunately the prophet Elisha was more than willing to help.

The prophet could have responded in a number of ways. He could have promised to pray about the situation, sending his pupil away to wait for a word from God. Likely no one would have argued had this been his response nor would anyone have blinked had the prophet taken up an offering in order to replace the broken ax. Either response would have been acceptable, a normal human response from a believer. Instead the prophet chose to do what was not humanly possible. Instead of being limited by his own ability, Elisha allowed God to do the impossible in order to help the young student meet his responsibilities.

Our natural tendency when we see others in need is to do what we can. Often, at least here in the states, what we can do involves money. Of course there is nothing wrong with giving money or time or anything else we can give in order to help our neighbor. In fact Jesus calls us to go the extra mile. But are we, by faith, going as far as God wants? Are we limiting ourselves to doing just what we can or are we open to doing the extraordinary by the power of God?

As the body of Christ, God's church is His hands and feet here on earth. Around us are people dealing with a multitude of problems and needs. Here in the United States we have food deserts where people do not know where their next meal might come from. Some of these deserts exist on our college campuses along with the need for protection from bullying. We are seeing an uncomfortable number of school shootings, leaving children with a feeling of insecurity and stress. Who knows how this will affect their future.

Elisha tossed a piece of wood into the water, causing an iron ax head to float. In so doing not only did he help his student return the tool, he provided a lasting impression of the power of God. By allowing God to work through us, we will have opportunities to demonstrate extraordinary love: love that comes from and with the power of the Holy Spirit. Is your faith mature enough to solve problems in extraordinary ways? Are you responding to your neighbors in your own ability or in the ability and calling of our Father in Heaven?

Also read: Yes, We Should Pray Following Tragedies

And What We Should Do After Prayer

Scaffolding: Who Knew?

Over the last several days I have watched as a construction crew built scaffolding in front of the building across the street from my job. Before now I thought of scaffolding as something simple to make, like a giant Erector Set suddenly appearing usually blocking the sidewalk right where I want to walk. Now I see so much more. A mixture of metal and wood, a good sized scaffolding takes many work hours to build. This one is almost a block long and about four stories tall, taking its builders more than a week to complete. I suspect it a foolish and dangerous move to rush such a project as those who put it together have the lives of the coming construction crew in their hands. So for the sake of safety, taking the time to build scaffolding right is a very important investment.

Having lived and/or worked in major cities most of my life I had come to take scaffolding for granted. I walk right by rarely taking notice of the project at hand, ignoring the effort it takes to maintain and even improve my urban surroundings. Having recently committed to making major changes to my own humble abode, I have become aware of what others are doing in order to improve upon an old building or even to create something new. Granted my projects only involve the use of an "A" shaped ladder, not a block long section of scaffolding but there is still an investment of time: one I hope pays off with something spectacular.

Home improvement is not the only project taking up a lot of my time. Being a husband and a father takes up time that is measured in years, along with a high level of sacrifice. Writing takes quite a time commitment. On my old blog I tried to take shortcuts which in the long run took me places I did not want to go. I'm guessing you also have a list of things that require a commitment of time in order to achieve your best. (Thank you for investing some of your time in reading this post.)

Like scaffolding those around you may take what you build for granted. You may find it difficult to get anyone to notice but not being noticed is better than being known because a shortcut lead to a huge incident. Put in as much time as you need in order to build your own masterpiece. You never know how many people your work might touch. True you may feel like your work simply blends into the background, like the forgotten but greatly significant scaffolding. Keep building. In the end what you do may impact culture in ways we cannot predict today.

The Challenge of Writing About Anything

My favorite radio station is WHYY in Philadelphia, our local public radio station. I am very curious,
and the full roster of local and national programming on WHYY is a natural way of feeding my curiosity. A few weeks back, my curiosity lead to a swift kick in the pants which came while listening to an interview on Fresh Air. I do not remember the name of the person being interviewed. What I do remember is being challenged by his claim that a writer can make a story out of almost anything.

I do enjoy writing, easily getting lost in a river of  words while sitting at the keyboard. As often as possible I sneak off with pen and paper (yes I sometimes write the old fashioned way) just to see what thoughts and dreams come out on the page. True, I often find myself doodling, but the challenge of telling a story is one I am always ready to tackle.

So why don’t I write as often as I’d like? My list of excuses is long. And yes I have to admit they are excuses, not real obstacles. One such excuse is not having anything interesting to write about. This is a throwback to my time as a codependent. Having lost myself in the destructive cycle that comes with living with an alcoholic, I never thought myself good enough to come up with my own stories. Being told I would never make any real money as a writer did not help either, as I took it to mean I was not good enough. Because of codependency, I tend to hide, allowing my dreams to wither on the vine. Writing is all about being on display, something way out of my comfort zone.

I once caught myself telling a story someone else told me about something from their past. Don’t worry, I did not take credit for the story nor did I impose myself upon the plot. I did tell the story with passion which must have seemed odd to the listener, especially considering I was talking about someone they did not know. I figured the story was more interesting than anything I could come up with on my own. And while I enjoyed telling the story, I felt very empty especially when the listener made an off hand comment about a plot detail. It’s hard to come up with answers when your trying to explain something from someone else’s story.

A writer can make his own story out of anything. This is my new challenge. I do enjoy telling a good story. Now I feel challenged to come up with my own material. With anything and everything in front of me in the world, there should be plenty of topics to write about. Having nothing to write about is no longer an excuse, having been scratched off my list. It was a silly excuse, as most of them all of them are. Right now, as I look at a spring rain outside my window, I find myself wondering if I see my next bunch of new stories. In fact I do.