I met my new friend in our knitting group. Sitting next to her on Tuesday mornings, we soon learned that we had more in common besides creating with yarn; although that was what fueled our friendship.
Another commonality we discovered was we both attempted to read through the Bible in a year. Neither of us had been successful. But in that conversation, she had my attention. She was knocking on the door of my heart; journeying with friends pursuing God excites me. I love ministry to women.
We began discussing reading the Bible together and inviting others to join us. She talked about getting a program for us to follow. I am all there ~ except for that little twinge in my heart that I didn’t understand. Why was I hesitating?
The easiest answer was time. Did I really have time to add another regular event to my calendar? Probably not, but I knew that was the easy answer, not the real answer.
Trust was the real answer.
- Did I trust God enough to work in her life even if I didn’t read the Bible with her?
- Did I trust that little twinge ~ that it might be God’s voice to me?
- Did I trust that our friendship was not based on having the Bible between us?
- Did I trust that knitting together could lead to truth being shared?
In the end, she pulled the plug. She thought if we were going to read the Bible together, we should really have a “professional” leading us. I smiled. God led through her decision and I was at peace.
In his book, Ruthless Trust, Brennan Manning suggests that the faith that animates the Christian community is less in believing the existence of God and more in the practical trust of His care no matter what the circumstances.
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, …”
Ephesians 3:20
I smiled at her comment about needing a professional too. What a hoot!
ReplyDeleteBut I'm not sure I followed your comments under "the real answer."