HOMEWORK

My worse moment…

It was the 5^th grade.  The teacher had this deal with us, students, that if we didn’t do our homework we’d miss out on recess.  This particular day I chose to not do my homework the night before in order to play.  So now I had to pay the consequences of my actions…or did I?  My teacher called me over before recess and told me, “I noticed homework turned in that didn’t have its name on it.  I know your handwriting pretty well.  Is this your homework?” as she showed me the work.  What to do?  Would I be honest and say, “Dear teacher, I was irresponsible last evening and failed to accomplish said assignment.  I shall stay here and complete it post haste.”  Nope.  I said, “Let me write my name on that paper right now!”   And I rushed outside while a poor girl tried to explain to the teacher that she had turned in her homework.  Pure evil!

Why admit my worse moment?  There’s something about deflecting, dodging responsibility that we never seem grow out of.  We have our Rolodex, our bag of tricks, our “go to” methods and techniques for avoiding new responsibilities.  It happens in any small group.  Someone announces, “I need someone to step up and help me with something.”  And the group erupts in a flurry of “buck passing:”

·         THE AVOIDING EYE CONTACT METHOD—There are always those that are refusing to lock eyes with the asker.  As if eye contact would be some type of tracker beam that would pull them into the unwanted task.

·         THE LOOKING BUSY TECHNIQUE—I know what this person is thinking, “If I already look like I’m doing something, there’s no way they can expect me to stop to help.”

·         THE FINGER POINTER—This guy starts looking around and pointing into the group on who should do it, “I think I heard him say he wanted to help out.”

·         THE FLATTERER—This guy seems a lot like the finger pointer but they take it up a notch, “So n so over there would be perfect for helping you.  They are so great and helping out and you guys seem to have such a great connection.  You complement each other so well.  He likes you a lot.  You should ask him.”

This seems to be the problem that sets up the words God spoke in Ezekiel 22:30:  I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.

God was searching for someone to step up, burdened by the brokenness around them.

God was searching for someone willing to build up what had been torn down.

God was searching for someone eager to stand in the gap between God and broken man.

God, ultimately was just searching for someone who had His heart.

He found no one.

Can He find that person in you?  Do you have His heart? Or are you trying not to make eye contact with Him? Are you too busy? Are you thinking of all the other people who’d be better than you?  It’s easy to avoid stepping up, stepping in, and stepping out when we think we don’t have what it takes to make an impact.  Can I just say—that’s a lie of the enemy?  I grew up in church singing this song about a little light of mine and how I was committed to letting it shine.  Would I hide it under a bushel?  NO!  I didn’t even know what a bushel was.  I was going to let it shine.  If the Spirit of God is in you, you have supernatural power to cause change.  So, shine!