When my friend and her husband struggled to conceive, doctors recommended she have a medical procedure done. But my friend was hesitant. “Shouldn’t prayer be enough to fix our problem?” she said. “Do I really need to do the procedure?” My friend was trying to work out what role human action has in seeing God work.
The story of Jesus feeding the crowd can help us here (Mark 6:35–44). We may know how the story ends—thousands of people are miraculously fed with just a little bread and some fish (v. 42). But notice, who is to feed the crowd? The disciples (v. 37). And who provides the food? They do (v. 38). Who distributes the food, and cleans up afterwards? The disciples (vv. 39–43). “You give them something to eat,” Jesus said (v. 37). Jesus did the miracle, but it happened as the disciples’ acted.
A good crop is a gift from God (Psalm 65:9–10), but a farmer must still work the land. Jesus promised Peter “a catch” of fish but the fisherman still had to cast his nets (Luke 5:4–6). God can tend the earth and do miracles without us but typically chooses to work in a divine-human partnership.
My friend went through with the procedure and later successfully conceived. While this is no formula for a miracle, it was a lesson to my friend and me. God often does His miraculous work through the methods He’s placed in our hands.
Go at the speed of joy. The phrase dropped into my mind as I prayerfully considered the year ahead one morning, and it seemed apt. I had a propensity to overwork, which often sapped my joy. So, following this guidance, I committed to working at an enjoyable pace in the coming year, making space for friends and joyful activities.
This plan worked . . . until March! Then I partnered with a university to oversee the trial of a course I’d been developing. With students to enroll and teaching to deliver, I was soon working long hours to keep up. How could I go at the speed of joy now?
Jesus promises joy to His followers, telling us it comes through remaining in His love (John 15:9) and prayerfully bringing our needs to Him (16:24). “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete,” he says (15:11). This joy comes as a gift, through His Spirit, who we’re to keep in step with (Galatians 5:22-25). I found I could only maintain joy during my busy period when I spent time each night in restful, trusting prayer.
Since joy is so important, it makes sense to prioritize it in our schedules. But since life is never completely under our control, I’m glad another source of joy—the Spirit—is available to us. For me, going at the speed of joy now means going at the speed of prayer—making time to receive from the Joy-giver.
With a worldwide audience estimated in the billions, Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral was possibly the most watched broadcast in history. One million people lined London’s streets on that day, and 250,000 queued for hours that week to see the Queen’s coffin. A historic five hundred kings, queens, presidents, and other heads of state came to pay tribute to a woman known for her strength and character.
As the world turned its gaze to Great Britain and its departing queen, my thoughts turned to another event—a royal return. A day is coming, we’re told, when the nations will gather to recognize a far greater Monarch (Isaiah 45:20–22). A leader of strength and character (v. 24), before Him “every knee will bow” and by Him “every tongue will swear” (v. 23), including the world’s leaders, who’ll pay Him tribute and lead their nations to walk in His light (Revelation 21:24, 26). Not all will welcome this Monarch’s arrival, but those who do will enjoy His reign forever (Isaiah 45:24–25).
Just as the world gathered to watch a queen leave, one day it will see its ultimate King return. What a day that will be—when one and all, in heaven and on earth, bow to Jesus Christ and recognize Him as Lord (Philippians 2:10).
The factories of Victorian England were dark places. Fatalities were high, and workers often lived in poverty. “How can the working man cultivate ideals,” George Cadbury asked, “when his home is a slum?” And so he built a new kind of factory for his expanding chocolate business, one that benefited his workers.
The result was Bourneville, a village of more than three hundred homes with sports fields, playgrounds, schools, and churches for Cadbury’s workers and their families. They were paid good wages and offered medical care, all because of Cadbury’s faith in Christ.
Jesus teaches us to pray for God’s will to be done “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). This prayer can help us imagine, as Cadbury did, what our workplaces would be like under God’s rule, where our “daily bread” is earned and our “debtors” forgiven (vv. 11–12). As employees, it means working with “all your heart . . . for the Lord” (Colossians 3:23). As employers, it means giving staff what’s “right and fair” (4:1). Whatever our role, whether paid or voluntary, it means tending to the well-being of those we serve with.
Like George Cadbury, let’s imagine how things could be different if God were in charge of our neighborhoods and workplaces. Because when He is, people flourish.
As our party approached, my wife and I started planning. With many people coming, should we pay a caterer to cook? If we do the cooking ourselves, should we buy a barbeque? With a small chance of rain on the day, should we buy a tent too? Soon our party was getting expensive, and even a little antisocial. By trying to provide everything ourselves we were missing an opportunity to receive the help of others.
The Bible’s vision of community is one of both giving and receiving. Even before the fall, Adam needed help (Genesis 2:18), and we’re called to seek other’s advice (Proverbs 15:22) and share our burdens (Galatians 6:2). The early church held “everything in common,” benefiting from each other’s “property and possessions” (Acts 2:44–45). Instead of living independently, they shared, borrowed, gave, and received in beautiful interdependence.
We ended up asking guests to bring a salad or dessert to our party. Our neighbors brought their barbeque, and a friend brought his tent. Asking for help enabled us to forge closer relationships, and the food people made brought variety and delight. In an age like ours, being self-sufficient can be a source for pride. But God gives His grace “to the humble” (James 4:6), including those who humbly ask for help.
The sight was heartbreaking. A pod of fifty-five pilot whales had stranded themselves on a Scottish beach. Volunteers tried to save them, but ultimately they died. No one knows why mass strandings like this occur, but it could be due to the whales’ strong social bonds. When one gets into trouble, the rest come to help—a caring instinct that can ironically lead to harm.
The Bible clearly calls us to help others, but to also be wise in how we do so. For example, when we help restore someone who’s caught in a sin, we’re to be careful that we’re not dragged into that sin ourselves (Galatians 6:1), and while we’re to love our neighbors, we’re to love ourselves too (Matthew 22:39). Proverbs 22:3 says, “The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.” This is a good reminder when helping others starts harming us.
Some years ago, two very needy people started attending our church. Soon, caring congregants were burning out responding to their cries. The solution wasn’t to turn the couple away but to put boundaries in place so helpers weren’t harmed. Jesus, the ultimate helper, took time for rest (Mark 4:38), and He ensured His disciples needs weren’t displaced by others’ needs (6:31). Wise caring follows His example. By tending to our own health, we’ll have more care to give in the long term.
I’d never planned to start a non-profit organization about adult friendship, and when I felt called to do so, I had so many questions. How would the charity be financed, and who should help me build it? My greatest help on these matters ended up coming not from a business book, but a biblical one.
The book of Ezra is essential reading for anyone called by God to build something. Recounting how the Jews rebuilt Jerusalem after their exile, it shows how God provided funds through public donations and government grants (Ezra 1:4-11; 6:8-10), and how both volunteers and contractors did the work (1:5; 3:7). It shows the importance of preparation time, with rebuilding not beginning until the second year of the Jews’ return (3:8). It shows how opposition may come (ch. 4). But one thing in the story particularly stood out to me. A whole year before any building began, the Jews erected the altar (3:1-6). The people worshiped “though the foundation of the L
Is God calling you to start something new? Ezra’s principle is poignant whether you’re starting a charity, a Bible study, a creative project, or some new task at work. Even a God-given project can take our attention away from Him, so let’s focus on God first. Before we work, we worship.
More than two hundred million people from a variety of faiths undertake a pilgrimage each year. For many throughout the ages, a pilgrim’s task has been to journey to a sacred place to receive some kind of blessing. It’s been all about reaching the temple, cathedral, shrine, or other destination where a blessing can be received.
Britain’s Celtic Christians, however, saw pilgrimage differently. They set out directionless into the wild or let their boats drift wherever the oceans took them—pilgrimage for them being about trusting God in unfamiliar territory. Any blessing was found not at the destination but along the journey.
Hebrews 11 was an important passage for the Celts. Since the Christian life is about leaving the world’s ways behind and trekking like foreigners to the city of God (vv. 13–16), a pilgrimage echoed their life’s journey. By trusting God to provide along their difficult, untrodden path, the pilgrim grew the kind of faith lived by the heroes of old (vv. 1–12).
What a lesson to learn, whether we physically trek or not: for those who have trusted Jesus , life is a pilgrimage to God’s heavenly country, full of dark forests, dead ends, and trials. As we journey through, may we not miss the blessing of experiencing God’s provision along the way.
In his parable The Wise Woman, George MacDonald tells the story of two girls, whose selfishness brings misery to all, including themselves, until a Wise Woman puts them through a series of tests to help them become “lovely” again.
After the girls fail each test and suffer shame and isolation, one of them, Rosamond, finally realizes she can’t change herself. “Couldn’t you help me?” she asks the Wise Woman. “Perhaps I could,” the woman replied, “now that you ask me.” And with the divine help symbolized by the Wise Woman, Rosamond begins to change. She then asks if the woman would forgive all the trouble she’s caused. “If I had not forgiven you,” the woman says, “I would never have taken the trouble to punish you.”
There are times when God disciplines us. It’s important to understand why. His correction isn’t driven by retribution but by a fatherly concern for our welfare (Hebrews 12:6). He also desires that we may “share in his holiness,” enjoying a harvest of “righteousness and peace” (vv. 10–11). Selfishness brings misery, but holiness makes us whole, joyful, and “lovely” like Him.
Rosamond asks the Wise Woman how she can love a selfish girl like her. Stooping to kiss her, the woman replies, “I saw what you were going to be.” God’s correction too comes with love and a desire to make us who we’re meant to be.
