One thing I believe Jesus is teaching me lately is to look for greater spiritual lessons in our everyday experiences. Now, we can take this too far of course, but let me share one story from this past week that really hit me.
I was talking with someone on our team and she shared how her project was going. She was a part of a team that was giving an apartment a makeover. They were going to clean the walls and ceiling and paint all the walls with new colors so it would feel like a new place. She along with a group of about six other people came excited and ready to work hard.
However, there was a problem. When they showed that first morning the man who owned the apartment never let them inside. He didn’t want them to help with his place. He wanted to do it all himself!
Our team mate was so frustrated because here she was having travelled thousands of miles, sacrificing time away from work and her family and having raised the funds to come all this way, to serve this person who didn’t even want their help. He was king to do it all on his own. How much easier and faster would it be if he would just swallow his pride and let this team in to do what they came for?
As she was telling me this story I was struck by how similar this is to God’s story. Jesus sacrificed so much to come and live on the earth among those he had created. He gave up time and closeness with the Father to take on the form of humanity. And his life on earth soon end with His death on a cross.
After giving up so much he is met with the one thing that seems to keep people from experiencing all that comes with knowing Jesus–and that is pride. Pride is what got Adam and Eve kicked out of the garden and it is pride that initially kept this man from having a team recreate a new space for him. In this one story we find the most practical expression of the gospel!
If we take time to stop and reflect on and seek out what the Lord is trying to teach us, perhaps we will find a greater lesson hidden within the ordinary events of life. And in discovering these lessons, we gain a better understanding of who Jesus is and how He is calling us to grow.
Gratefully,
Harrison
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