Day 31

"'O unbelieving and perverse generation,' Jesus replied, 'how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?'"

Matthew 17:17

Jesus has a lot of outbursts like this throughout the Gospels. He gets upset with his disciples, his followers, his family, etc. He gets mad because they don't understand what he's talking about, because they make ridiculous requests, or because he's just plain frustrated. As part of today's challenge, I took this as permission to sometimes get frustrated with other people.

I think the bigger takeaway from these parts of Jesus' ministry is that we has humans are frustrating to be aorund. Jesus discovered this as he tried to lead the Jewish people to a new kind of living--one where they lived peacefully, worshipped God properly, and loved all people. Yet they didn't get it. We still don't. This can be annoying for those of us who are/have aspirations to lead God's people. But, more importantly, it reminds us that we can easily ignore Jesus' callings on our lives.

How many times did Jesus show me that I am called to become a pastor, yet I ignored his call and his signs for upward of five years? How many times does he answer my prayers and I pretend I don't notice? How many times is the path clear, but I've blinded myself to it?

I know that I'm not going to be perfect, and that I'm not always going to notice when God is showing me the way. Yet today and in the future, I'm going to use my expanded prayer and alone time to really open myself to what God is saying to me. Jesus would appreciate it.