In the fourth chapter of John, Jesus's disciples are concerned about his need for food, to which he gently replies, "I have food of which you know nothing." Further confusion ensues among the disciples until Jesus then states, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work."
Tonight This morning, I'm wondering if it would be okay for me to substitute the word "food" for "sleep."
Because that's how I feel right now, having had not one wink of sleep last night.
We are in Montana, finishing up our biking leg today, and last night, I stayed up late to wash our four loads of dirty laundy.
In one washer.
And one really slow-working dryer.
By four-o-clock this morning, I was finally ready to go to bed. Enter Cher, my new friend.
It's 6:30 a.m., and I haven't slept. Hopefully Cher is sleeping by now, but I decided that at this point, a little sleep would be more painful than helpful. (We'll see if I agree with myself in a few hours.)
Besides, I'm not really tired. Doing the will of God is better than sleep anyway. Don't get me wrong...He has created us in such a way that we need sleep, I get it. But isn't it awesome that He can give us the strength we need for times like this when He calls us to a different path than our norm?
Cher is a new believer, coming to Christ, I believe, about three weeks ago after having walked through a very dark, low period of life. And she's so hungry. But her culture has. effected. her. so. much.
We started our conversation by talking about basic parenting questions. About seven thousand smokescreens later, including talking about my view on homosexuality and whether or not Jesus is actually perfect, we finally got to the heart of the matter: Cher realized that she was needy, and three weeks ago she cried out to a God who has proven to be infinitely personal to her.
(I realize that if Cher, in fact, doesn't believe that Jesus was perfect, it's hard to believe that He has become her perfection, but I think that Cher understands about as much as it is possible for her to at this point. Either way, God knows her heart, and it wasn't my job to figure that all out but rather to just share the Gospel again, pointing out to her the way to the Savior.)
I was amazed at a few things: 1) how difficult it was for me to argue the very good points she was bringing up (Perhaps my exhaustion had something to do with my lack of clarity?), 2) how evangelistic this young believer was, albeit about some of the wrong causes, 3) how easily swayed by the culture she was and how influenced by it her beliefs are, 4) how eager she was to have a more mature believer speak into her life.
It was, no doubt, a divine appointment, and I'm thankful. Lord, draw her close. Guide her in the Truth, and teach her, Holy Spirit.
Sleep, it seems, is overrated, at least this morning. Today, my sleep was to do the will of Him who sent me...what a privilege.
Because that's how I feel right now, having had not one wink of sleep last night.
We are in Montana, finishing up our biking leg today, and last night, I stayed up late to wash our four loads of dirty laundy.
In one washer.
And one really slow-working dryer.
By four-o-clock this morning, I was finally ready to go to bed. Enter Cher, my new friend.
It's 6:30 a.m., and I haven't slept. Hopefully Cher is sleeping by now, but I decided that at this point, a little sleep would be more painful than helpful. (We'll see if I agree with myself in a few hours.)
Besides, I'm not really tired. Doing the will of God is better than sleep anyway. Don't get me wrong...He has created us in such a way that we need sleep, I get it. But isn't it awesome that He can give us the strength we need for times like this when He calls us to a different path than our norm?
Cher is a new believer, coming to Christ, I believe, about three weeks ago after having walked through a very dark, low period of life. And she's so hungry. But her culture has. effected. her. so. much.
We started our conversation by talking about basic parenting questions. About seven thousand smokescreens later, including talking about my view on homosexuality and whether or not Jesus is actually perfect, we finally got to the heart of the matter: Cher realized that she was needy, and three weeks ago she cried out to a God who has proven to be infinitely personal to her.
(I realize that if Cher, in fact, doesn't believe that Jesus was perfect, it's hard to believe that He has become her perfection, but I think that Cher understands about as much as it is possible for her to at this point. Either way, God knows her heart, and it wasn't my job to figure that all out but rather to just share the Gospel again, pointing out to her the way to the Savior.)
I was amazed at a few things: 1) how difficult it was for me to argue the very good points she was bringing up (Perhaps my exhaustion had something to do with my lack of clarity?), 2) how evangelistic this young believer was, albeit about some of the wrong causes, 3) how easily swayed by the culture she was and how influenced by it her beliefs are, 4) how eager she was to have a more mature believer speak into her life.
It was, no doubt, a divine appointment, and I'm thankful. Lord, draw her close. Guide her in the Truth, and teach her, Holy Spirit.
Sleep, it seems, is overrated, at least this morning. Today, my sleep was to do the will of Him who sent me...what a privilege.
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