Tim Turner

What exactly do you do when you feel like everything is just slipping through your fingers? My life has never been that bad. I have been blessed more than a lot of people, regardless of childhood hurts. So, how do I still end up at a point of feeling like I can’t move, breathe, or think? When do we start to walk down the road that led us to this place, and could we have seen this coming? I certainly don’t know, but today something happened that lifted me up more then I ever expected it to.

You know that month when all the bills just seem to hit you square in the face at just the wrong moment? Yep, me too. So, with everything seeming to come out of no where I was a bit concerned about this month, I can’t lie about that. Today Kat called me to inform me that for the past year we have been incorrectly paying our rent. Apparently we’ve been paying too much. Since this is the last month on that particular lease, they credited us for the extra payments throughout the year. As a result we had a cheaper rent payment, which will help us in the long run. All in all we didn’t save a ton of money, and it didn’t do anything miraculous for us, just made things a bit easier. It gets hard in our busy lives to stop and realize how God works throughout our day. Today was just an example of God taking something in my life and using it for good.

Why do I worry so much? Matthew 6:25-31 Has a bit to say about worry. Have I honestly accomplished anything by fretting over the little things in life, or even the big things for that matter? No, all thats happened is it makes me miserable. How can I expect to change the world, when I can’t stop worrying about tomorrow? The thing is, its not just me. Imagine what would happen in this country if the believers would drop their daily worrying and anxiety and actually trust God to handle it for us. In Romans 8:31-32 Paul puts it simply. The creator of the universe is on our side, so what do we have to worry over? When we worry we tell God we don’t think He is going to keep His promises to us. Now ask yourself, would you say that to His face? If not, then why do we live it everyday?

We strive so hard to distract ourselves. Movies, music, and technology fill our lives. The more we fill our lives the more we can’t hold on to anything that matters. How close are we to having to set an appointment to meet with our families? Why is it so hard to set down the blackberry and not worry about that new email you just got? Isn’t it amazing how we can be connected to the entire world all the time, and yet never connect to anyone?

Psalms 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God…”

I was reading through my devotional tonight, and happened across an interesting thought. The chapter was about the event where Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. In the book, Max said he tried to find a translation of the bible that said “Jesus did not wash Judas’ feet,” however could not find one. I’ve heard that story a million times, but the thought never occurred to me that Judas was apart of those who Jesus washed.

The very act of washing another’s feet in that culture was a job left for the lowest of the servants, so for Jesus it had a very significant meaning. Jesus laid down one of my favorite examples of leadership in this story, I’ve commonly heard it called “servant-leadership.” Where I work now this simply does not exist, and I think its very apparent. My management doesn’t even attempt to understand the employees or to get on their hands and knees and help. I wonder most days what it would be like if our management, or the management of most companies had a shift where the managers were willing to be servant leaders. My old youth pastor used to say often, “You can’t lead someone where you aren’t going.”

Back to my original point. So Jesus washed the feet of all His disciples, these very men would later abandon Him to hide, and one of them would be the cause of some of the worst pain and suffering a human can endure. Yet, Jesus still thought it fitting to get on the floor and wash the dirt off their feet. I’ve been sitting here asking myself if I really thought I could wash the feet of a “Judas” in my life, and to be quite honest, no I don’t think I could. I have a hard time letting go of anger, and thats why I think its such an amazing example Jesus lays for us here. Think about the people in your life who have betrayed and hurt you, could your humble yourself for their benefit? What about men like Osama Bin Laden, or Hitler, could you wash their feet? Jesus forgave the men who would abandon him before they even committed the act. Can we learn to forgive people regardless of who they are or what they’ve done to us? Can we pray for men like Hitler, and ask God to forgive them? I think the point is Jesus was showing us we can forgive no matter how hard it may be.