Ask most people how their day is going and they will say,
“Busy!”
We like
the word busy. Busy sounds
important. Busy sounds like we are doing
something. Busy is a badge of honour in
our culture.
Jesus
certainly had busy days. However, I do
not think that “busy” was his word. In
fact, Jesus made a point of emphasizing another attitude, as you will see in
Luke 8:40-56.
The day begins with Jesus sailing
to the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.
As he arrives, he can see that a crowd has gathered. They have heard that he can heal people and
they need his help. In fact, the crowd
is so large and so demanding that they almost crush him as they try to get his
attention.
In this
group is a man named Jairus. His twelve
year old daughter is dying and so he comes to Jesus and begs for his help. Jesus agrees and heads towards the man’s
house. Along the way, a woman grabs
Jesus’ robe and is healed of a disease.
Oddly, this causes Jesus to stop and talk to her. As he is speaking, word comes that Jairus’
daughter has died. Upon hearing this, Jesus
says, “Do not to be afraid” and then he carries on to the house and raises the
girl from the dead.
What I
want you to notice is that none of those things were on Jesus’ “To do” list for
that day. Those opportunities came simply because he made himself available to those
around him.
Interestingly,
scripture never pictures Jesus running anywhere. He walks.
He sits. He teaches. Jesus never runs! He does not rush from one thing to next. He does not say, “I would love to help, but I
am in a big hurry!” He is never
distracted, frantic or worried.
I
wonder what would happen if we made a point of being less busy with our own
stuff and more available to the people and the needs around us?
I
suspect we would find that the most important ministry we do is what we do
while on the way to what we thought was most important.
Available
beats busy every time!
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