Meeting Angst

Last week we had a meeting of the Young Adult Commission. At these meetings we go over the current Young Adult initiatives in the Diocese and plan the new events for the months ahead.

Highs

At these meetings I’m often inspired. It’s encouraging to be with other Young Adult leaders who are passionate about what they’re doing. It’s great to feed off one another’s energy and catch a vision of “what could be…”.

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up – 1 Thessalonians 5:11

At last week’s meeting we came up with some superb ideas. Let me tell you, there’s some really good stuff in the pipeline for this summer…

Lows

However, I also often find meetings like this overwhelming. I get a glimpse of the huge task ahead of us and feel intimidated.

“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few…” – Luke 10:2

The need is so great but our resources are so few. Those who serve give so much, but it is so often the same people doing the serving each time. You see a very similar dynamic within a local parish where it is the same people serving in all the different ministries. If ever there was an easy prayer to pray, this is it:

“…Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” – Luke 10:2

There is so much that needs to be done, but only so many hours in the day. There are so many great ideas, but taking them to fruition requires huge personal investment. When the cause is so good, it is often hard to resist the urge to take on everything, but I’ve seen ministry burn-out before and it isn’t pretty.

The Drive Home

On the drive home I was thinking about all these things and the image which kept coming to mind was that of a basket of loaves and fishes:

At a certain point in Jesus’ ministry there was a huge problem. There were a vast number of people in the middle of nowhere who had come to hear Him speak but who were now hungry. How to feed such a multitude?!

The disciples were sensible and told Jesus that He should just dismiss them and let them find their food on their own. But instead He gives a mind-boggling response:

 “You give them something to eat” – Mark 6:37

What?! The disciples had “run the numbers” and saw that it was just not simply feasible. If ever there was an overwhelming, insurmountable problem, this was it!

The disciples brought to Jesus what they had: five loaves and two fishes. Given the magnitude of the problem, this was a rather pathetic offering. Yet Jesus took them and fed all the people.

God is good like that. He specializes in doing amazing things with the little we have to offer Him. If it were simply down to us, we’d all be in big trouble…

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God – Psalm 20: 7