On a canoe trip I led one year, my campers had started
complaining about the food, the work, and the amount of time we had spent doing
community building exercises and Bible study. I repeatedly heard, “Again?”
Singing songs around the campfire seemed to be an alien
concept. Before meals, I’d teach prayer in song and activity, yet no one seemed
willing. Getting kids to help with the cooking or gathering wood for fires was
met with complaining.
By the end of the week, I’d have gladly abandoned them for a
small fee. I felt ineffectual. I thought that nothing I was doing was helpful,
and I’m pretty sure, that by the end of the week, there was little Gospel or
grace left in me. So I was blown away when we returned, and I heard one of my
campers say to her parents. “We had the best time! I learned so much. Do you
know we had to pray before every meal? It was nice.”
“God works in mysterious ways,” I thought. “But if you
didn’t need my help, why did you send me?”
There is always a temptation to think that the work that we
are doing is about us, but God often works in spite of us. Paraphrasing a
mentor friend of mine—it is not our job to make people faithful. Our job is to
make sure that the faithful person is the one who is leading.
Today we see that even Moses
and Aaron eventually think it’s about
them, but, of course, it has been, and always will be, about God’s leading in
the wilderness.
Prayer
Lord, we thank you for your leading us into ways of patience
and forgiveness. Strengthen us to be faithful examples of your providence and
care. Amen
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