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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2018-07-12, Page 18BP L_ Dust Control PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2018. Jesus' followers rewarded for patience, faith Continued from page 16 soldiers, decades -old hatreds still being played out with bullets and bombs, I felt hopeless at times. Who are we to think that we can have any effect on this? Who am I to think that I can make the world a better place, in the face of such long lasting hatred and violence? Are we just being naive, thinking that we can make the world a better place for our children? When the need is so great, where do you even start? Well, here are the answers to those questions: I am a child of God, trusting in God to help me. I am not being naive, I can leave this world better off. When the need is great, you start where you can, do what you can. You give what you have to God and trust that God will do great things with it. My work at Project Ploughshares wasn't going to bring peace to the Middle East, but in my own small way, I helped. When the disciples looked at the 5,000 hungry people, they could have just stood there, saying that what they had to offer was too little, that they were not strong enough, that it wasn't their problem. Instead, with some prompting from Jesus, they got out there and fed the people. They gave what they had and trusted God to do the rest. Don't let a fear of failure or the scale of the problem overwhelm you or paralyze. Dream big, do what you can and ask God for help. What helps is to remember that everything we have is a gift from God. Our time on this earth, our talents and skills, our energy, our money. God has given us these things, not so that we can hoard them or hide them under a basket. God has given us these things so that we can give them right back, so that they can be used for God's purposes in the world. Frederick Buechner said, "Greed is the mathematical truism that the more you get, the more you have. The opposite of greed — the selfless love of God and neighbour — is based on the truth that the more you give away in love, the more you are." We are God's hands and feet in the world and we express our faith through action. Remember, Jesus asked the disciples to feed the people. That means that God is asking us, the present-day disciples and followers, to feed the people. To free the oppressed, to care for the sick, to visit those in prison. They are big jobs. But I think that we're up to the challenge. And lastly, the crowd. The forgotten players in the story. They followed Jesus, so enthralled and desperate for him that they forgot to pack a supper! They knew that Jesus was more important than supper. The story says nothing about them complaining. Perhaps the crowd was familiar with Chapter 55 of Isaiah, which says, "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare" By staying with Jesus, they could delight in the richest of fare, the bread that truly satisfies. They didn't know Jesus was going to feed them and yet they didn't complain. Their patience and faith were rewarded. "They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over." Not only were they satisfied, there were leftovers! Their needs were met, and then some. Such is what happens when you follow and trust in Jesus. One story, in all four Gospels, from three perspectives. From Jesus we learn that true compassion is loving, even when you really don't feel like it. From the disciples we see what it means to face an impossible mountain and just start climbing because Jesus asks us to. We learn that being God's hands and feet is vital work, requiring the time, talent, money and love that God gave us. And from the crowd, we learn that if we follow Jesus, if we trust God, we will come away satisfied. It is no wonder that this miracle was important enough to be written down four times over. We all feel hunger, in our bodies and our souls. Jesus came to answer both. Get breaking farm news on the Rural Voice section of our website at www.ruralvoice.ca Business Directory PHARMASAVE. 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