Wednesday, October 24, 2012

The Crumbs that Satisfy on the Unpredictable Journey


It’s not about us doing anything… anything at all.  It’s more like resting our full weight on His word and promise... on what HE did for us, once for all… And keep on resting... It’s faith in this invisible God and His now invisible to us Son who finished everything for us …we simply receive, we enter into this incredible life with Him by what we believe in our hearts of hearts… God already knows what’s in our heart but we can express it to Him in words through prayer…

I don’t know anything about  how to pray? Can you help me?

No way, I want to say,  for I am as clueless about how to pray as you are, but in the same breath I also yelp a cry for help, an emergency alert prayer to God who got me into this pickle, WE NEED YOUR HELP RIGHT NOW!!!

He closes his eyes in full anticipation of my expert assistance while I keep mine panic-wide open, and start with few simple stuttering words.

Lord Jesus, we need you. …

By the time we say, Amen, few seconds later, I am exhausted. He opens his eyes, looks at me and say,

Thank you but I feel really tired right now.  Is it O.K. if I take a nap?  He stretches out on the empty seats and dozes off.  I watch him as he is resting, his face transformed by peace… My peace I give to you… Not as the world gives… but My peace… Do not let your heart be troubled… Don’t let it be fearful…

I take the New Testament off the shelf under the window and flip through the pages until I find the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John. Just a few words, a few tiny heavenly crumbs fallen from the Father’s table, and not only is my own soul satisfied but I find, to my amazement, that there is more than enough to share... 

He wakes up just in time for me to get off the train at my stop, while he continues on to his village.  I encourage him to find a copy of the New Testament and ask Jesus to speak to him, to make those old words alive, fresh and meaningful to him... There is so much I want to tell him - that he has 24-7 direct line to the Lord of the Universe and to make sure to use it, that all his sins - past, present and future are wiped clean on the Cross, that... that... that... I am afraid I'll forget something important, but, there is no time. Then I realize that the same God who orchestrated this encounter will be with him and will tell him all he needs to know when he needs it.  And I am reminded to rest again not only for my own soul but for this man's soul as well. We say our good-byes, tears filling my eyes again as I watch the train move on.

What a strange life I’ve entered into… what a strange life…

And so I became the world’s most reluctant evangelist… a pauper (still quite argumentative pauper, I must add) sharing the crumbs that satisfied her hunger with other hungry and tired travelers seeking a place of rest for their souls on this life’s unpredictable journey.

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