Travelling with Gershom

As I have mentioned in two earlier posts, I have been learning to trust God over the last few months. While there has been much happening in my life this past twelve months, two events have precipitated some anxiety and worry for me (and those around me). As anyone who has been overseas for an extended period can tell you, moving back to your home country is a stressful event, even when you are ready and as mentally prepared to return as we were. Getting settled back in the house, straightening out school for our youngest, taking on new roles at work, managing an overall reduction in salary, it all adds up pretty quickly. But that was going reasonably well. Then the unexpected happened: I was out of a job. Now the worry levels rose to new heights, especially given the economic situation the world is in. What is most interesting about this time is that God used people I knew to direct me to himself. The earliest instances of this I have commented on earlier, and you can read about it he...

I mentioned in a recent post that I would be looking at two questions: what does it mean to trust God?, and how do I trust God? I started exploring this in Matthew's gospel, specifically the sixth chapter. In verses 25 through 34, Matthew records Jesus as teaching about worry. Or more exactly, about not worrying. In this passage, Jesus tells us "do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on." He goes on to say that God "knows that you need all things" and if we "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness...all these things shall be added to you." (Yes, I am using the New King James translation, a slightly modified version of the original King James, which is, of course, the Bible Jesus used!) Sounds like good advice. So how do I stop worrying? I think the clue lies at the beginning of this section: "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life..." "There...

Several times in the last few weeks I have come across something exhorting us - well, me - to live more simply. Most of this advice has been prompted by the economy, but it seems to me that to be truly worthwhile any advice must be grounded in something less volatile than the Dow Jones. Ben Witherington recently posted a discussion on the economic situation that gets down to fundamentals. Witherington does not exempt Christians from contributing to our current economic woes, by living beyond our means and opting into the consumer culture (in other words, by being greedy), and he reminds us of several principles that God calls us to live by. It is good reading, and not just for Christians. It's the first and fourth principles I want to address here. That "the earth is the Lord's and all that is therein" and "the purpose of hard work is to save all we can, so we can also give all we can" are inseparable, I think. If we are good stewards of what God has g...