A Path Among the Rocks

“…To one He gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability…”

Matthew 25:15

I have to be honest.  I wish I could see the look on your face when you read the title of this week’s blog and saw the picture of Groot!  I promise this is a message of spiritual encouragement, and you may be wondering what a Marvel Studios character has to do with you and me and Jesus, so let’s jump right in and see what the Lord has for us today. 

I am preparing to teach a Kindergarten class in our Vacation Bible School that starts next week.  As I was reading the lessons for the week, the writers of the curriculum used this phrase “Know – Grow – Go.”  The premise of the phrase is that we should know Jesus as our Savior, grow in the grace and knowledge of Him and then go tell others about him.  I love that!  Short, easy to remember, and full of grace and truth! 

Knowing Jesus as your personal Savior saves you now and for eternity (Romans 10:9).  I’ve talked a lot about a personal relationship with Jesus, and the peace that He can bring to your life.  It’s real, and it’s powerful.  When I was a child growing up the one thing that we did not have was security.  Security in the basic necessities of life like food, electricity and money to buy the things that were needed to live were not always readily available.  I still have some phobias about some of those things from my childhood, but I can shout from the rooftops that there is no peace and security that humans can ever produce that is more powerful than the peace and security that God brings to your life as a child of God.  He knows every single thing that I need, and every single that that I do not need in my life, and He supplies what is best for me (Matthew 6:30-32).  Knowing that He opens the door to a life and love that surpasses all understanding, is everything.

If you know Jesus, then you are a child of God, dearly loved and watched over all the time.  But just like my little Kindergarteners, we have to learn and practice growing our faith.  We are not born again with a degree in Bible doctrine.  It takes practice.  The more you incorporate the truths of God’s word into your everyday life, the more you will grow in your knowledge of God and in the behaviors that are reflective of your status as a child of God.  Simple math.  Faith + Practice = Peace (Philippians 4:9).  I think we can all agree that what we need more than anything in this life, with all the concerns, struggles and issues that are overwhelming to us on a daily basis, is peace. 

One of my favorite verses is Philippians 4:5 which reminds us that the “Lord is near.”  Verses 6-7 of that same chapter remind us that we don’t have to be anxious or worry, but that we should pray, with a thankful heart that you have the Creator of the Universe beside you at all times, and to talk to God about what’s on your heart.  He gives you peace in return – regardless of the answer. 

I know it’s on your heart, so I’ll wait right here for you if you want to stop and just offer that prayer to the Lord.  He’s waiting for you, and I’ll be over here waiting until you come back.

Psalm 69:16-18

“Answer me, LORD, out of the goodness of Your love;

In your great mercy turn to me.

Do not hide Your face from your servant;

Answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.

Come near and rescue me…”

Following along with our Know – Grow – Go phrase, we’ve talked about knowing Jesus as Savior.  We’ve talked about growing in the knowledge of Him who saved you and called you as His own.  That brings us to the Go part. But something occurred to me as I got to the Go. 

 Our “Go’s” are not all the same.  What we are called to do – gifted to do – is not meant to be identical acts of service (Romans 12:6).  I think that believers put themselves under a lot of pressure and stress about trying to do the same thing they see someone else doing in serving the Lord.  So much stress and pressure, in fact, that we are paralyzed under the weight of the fear of failure before we even begin.  I think we can see that with the servant that was given one bag of talents.  He was so fearful that he didn’t do anything with what he was given and just buried his talent in a hole.  (Matthew 25:25)

So, let’s look at our verse of the day.  It’s from the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25.  This verse drives home the point that our Go’s are not meant to be the same because the servants were not all given the same amount of money.  One servant received five bags, one received two bags, and one received one.  “According to their ability” is an important part of that verse as well.  You see, Jesus doesn’t have the expectation that you accomplish anything more than what He’s given to you to begin with.  He puts the love or burden of something within our heart, and then He gives us all we need to accomplish whatever that good work is that He has for us.  2 Corinthians 9:8 says “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

I will use my own experience as the example.  The Lord has always made it clear to me that whatever He might have me do or say or write, it must come from my own personal experience with Him in my everyday life.  In other words, I am not able to bring a fake message in my calling – He just won’t allow it.  So, if I’m sad, or mad, or ashamed, or happy, or burdened, that’s what I am compelled to include as part of what God has for me to share.  I have long since made peace with that decades ago.  Believe me, I tried to do that differently.  I have tried in the past to bring a polished lesson when I was a wreck – and what came out of my mouth every single time was not the polished lesson but the lesson I learned in the wreckage.  And that’s OK – that’s part of what came in my bag from the Lord to work with and use for His glory. 

God has provided the means and the words for me to teach, and now, in this season of my life, to write.  But it would be a disaster to put me on the mission field.  Firstly, I would get lost because I have zero sense of direction.  Secondly, I  would get tongue-tied trying to explain salvation using the “Roman road” verses, which I couldn’t tell you exactly what those are anyway.  I know my boundaries (Psalm 16:6).  It took me a long time to figure out that I am not called to do every single thing, and in fact, if I am trying to do that, I am most likely getting into someone else’s calling and causing issues for my brother or sister in Christ to be able to do what God has called them to do. 

My point is that what God has gifted you with is unique, custom fit specifically for you.  God may have given you five bags of talents or He may have given you one.  The only thing that matters is that you keep your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of your faith (Hebrews 12:2), and do what you know in your heart He is asking you to do, or say, or teach, or build, or create, or paint, or write, or hug, or visit, or finance.   The Go is really between you and Jesus.  And there’s a whole world, or maybe just that one person, who’s waiting for you to step into your gift and bring to them what God has for the both of you.

So what does all of this have to do with Groot?  If you’ve watched the movie Guardians of the Galaxy, you know that Groot only says three words “I AM GROOT.”   He says this for every response, whether statement or question, it’s always I am Groot.  The funny thing about this is that his friends translate these three words into a multitude of different words. What we hear are the same three words throughout the movie, but what his friends here translates into a conversation.   If you think about it, our service to Jesus can take on many, many forms.  They are all different.  They are unique to each believer.  They are not identical among us here on Earth, but to God the Father, our service is one and the same conversation – an act of worship to Him.  Matthew 25:40 says “…whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”   Your service may look different than my service, but the same thing is received by God – and He finds it beautiful.  So, I think it might be OK for us to change our slogan just a little bit in light of what the Lord has given us today – perhaps we can now say:

Know – Grow – I am Groot!

You are so loved, and I am so excited for you to discover what God has for you. 

Pray for me and my little ones this coming week, and I’ll pray that the Lord enlightens you to the “talent” (Matthew 25:14) that He’s entrusted to you. 

Proactive:  Ecclesiastes 9:10 – “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…”

Defensive:  Philippians 4:19 – And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.

Promise:  Philippians 1:6 – “…He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion…”