Acts 6:1-7 / John
6:16-21
The disciples run into trouble: The Lord was with them in their trouble.
There’s a famous poem called “Footprints.” It’s about
a person, in a dream, walking along a beach with the Lord. Suddenly, across the
sky, scenes appear from the person’s life. For each scene, two sets of footprints appear in the
sand: one belonging to the Lord, the other to the person. What confuses the
person is that during the most trying times in life only one set of footprints
appears. When the person asks the Lord why he left during these most trying
times, the Lord says, “I would never leave you during your times of trial and
suffering. When you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried
you.”
***
How firmly do we believe that God is with us always,
especially during times of trial and suffering?
“The Lord, your
God, carried you, as a man carries his child, all along your journey.” Deuteronomy 1:31
***
It is said that in carrying water in a bucket,
in order to prevent the water from spilling, all that is needed is just to
float a piece of wood on the water in the bucket.
Whether this really works or not, it
would be interesting to find out. If this method really works, then it only
goes to show that even a simple task like carrying water in a pail requires a
stabilizing factor.
The Church also requires a stabilizing
factor. Whether the task is about distributing food to the poor or bringing
peace to a troubled situation, the Church must remember this: And that is, no
task is too small for the Church not to require the grace of God.
And on the personal level, no task is too
small for us not to require the grace of God.
The apostles in the early Church knew the
importance of prayer and the necessity of grace in every aspect of the life of
the Church.
They knew from experience that without
prayer and praying for God's grace, they will be like a boat in the storm and
they will sink into anxiety and fear.
Very often, the solution to the problems
we face in life is as simple as floating a piece of wood on the water in order
to reduce spillage.
Yet, it certainly requires prayer and
God's grace to know what to do and how to do it.
