Flowers of the Field

Day 24

Flowers of the Field

(Guest Post By David Campbell)

 

 

Memory is an interesting thing.

Many years ago I had a time that was, at the time, the most challenging season I had been through. This was not long after I had moved to Jamaica to be fully dedicated to the ministry in the inner city. I can clearly remember many of the moments that were so challenging … but just yesterday I was looking through some old notes I made at that time, and was shocked by what I had not remembered. None of my memories were false … but every single one of the challenges  had ended up turning out so much better than I remembered. Some of them miraculously so.

For years I have been blaming the disillusionment I went through afterwards on what happened … but my memory of what happened had been very selective.

This has brought me to the confronting but liberating realisation that the real problem was not what happened, but the way I perceived what happened. It might just be true that sometimes the difference between hope and despair, or peace and worry is actually the way we remember  and retell the story. 

One of our Greek friends pointed out to us that the English words “you of little faith” in this passage (Matthew 6: 28-30) are a single word in the Greek text. That word is; Oligopistoi. It is not a derogative term for Jesus to use to address his disciples, but it is quite direct. The form of the word in Greek carries meaning that we need several words to capture in English. A simple way to summarise this is to say that Jesus was addressing his disciples as “little-faith-lads”.

He uses this term “little-faith-lads” in a few other places…

When the disciples are in the boat in a storm and wake Jesus up in a panic, and he asks them “Why are you so afraid, little-faith-lads?” (Matt 8:26)

When Peter is walking on water and starts to sink, and Jesus reaches out his hand to him, he asks Peter, “Little-faith-lad, why did you doubt?” (Matt 14:31)

When the disciples have forgotten to bring food and Jesus uses the symbol of yeast to warn them about the influence of the Pharisees’ teaching, they are convinced that he is speaking in a mystic way to chastise them for forgetting to bring lunch! “Little-faith-lads, why are discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?” (Matt 16:8)

Each time the disciples are facing challenges. The storm is real, the fact that a human being shouldn’t be able to walk on water is real, forgetting to bring lunch is real. But the real problem is not what is happening, it is the way the disciples perceive what is happening.

What I find so remarkable about this passage in the Sermon on the Mount (the first time Jesus uses the little-faith-lads term) is what he says right before.

“Will he not much more clothe you – little-faith-lads?”

“Much more” … in this context, I do not hear Jesus’ words to His disciples so much as a rebuke, but as a comforting assurance. Jesus knows that we struggle to perceive as He perceives. He knows that our faith falters. He knows we are “little-faith-lads” and lasses … but He promises to provide for us anyway, and wants us to see the Father’s faithfulness.

If you look back on some of the challenging times that Jesus has bought you through, as I did, you might also be surprised to see how He was present in ways that have not been part of the way you remembered those times. Sometimes the difference between hope and despair, or peace and worry is actually the way we remember and retell the story. 

This is why it is so good to write things down when they are fresh, so that you can remember.

I’m glad the disciples did.

 

 

Journaling The Journey 

For we human beings the clothes we wear are very often not just a covering for warmth, but a statement about our identity: who we want to be or want to be seen to be.

We have created a whole fashion industry, paying vast sums for brands that we feel reflect who we are or who we want to be seen to be.

What does it mean for you to be ‘clothed’ by God? To find your identity in Him alone?

What does it mean for you to live in a place of not worrying about how others see you on the outside, but how God sees you ,the true you, deep within?

 

Today’s Mountainside photograph was taken from Sugarloaf Mountain, Wales, UK.