“If you live a life of watching and waiting, you will know what kind of call you have. You are not called to solve every problem in the world. Jesus was not called to go all over the world. He was called to be faithful to his own people. Every human being has a call. I work with mentally handicapped people. Sometimes I spend hours with one person, and we barely speak. Does that help people in Bosnia, does that help people in Northern Ireland, does it help people in Somalia? I don’t know, but I think it does. I think that when I am faithful to one person who is given to me, when I am convinced that’s my vocation, then I am doing more than when I am anxiously trying to put out all the fires all over the world. And that gives me peace” (Henri Nouwen).

“This quote by Pastor Richard Caldwell is something that has resonated deeply with me over the last few years:

“Could it be that God didn’t wire us to carry every event, taking place in every part of the world, at every moment, as if it were ours? Could it be that technology has produced a faux omniscience and omnipresence that is hurting mankind, not helping it?”

Every day, we’re bombarded with crises, tragedies, and needs from across the globe. Our phones buzz with updates about disasters we can’t reach, conflicts we can’t influence, and suffering that breaks our hearts but remains completely outside our ability to address. And if we’re honest, this constant exposure doesn’t just inform us, but it completely overwhelms us.

Here’s what I’ve been learning (or at least trying to learn):

God never designed us to feel responsible for everything happening everywhere. We are finite creatures with limited physical/emotional capacity, limited resources, and limited time. I’m reminded regularly that I can’t even care about every need in my own family, my church, and my community in equal ways. Some days, I struggle just to love the people sitting at my dinner table well.

This isn’t about becoming callous or indifferent to the needs of others. We know our Savior wept over Jerusalem, and He calls us to “weep with those who weep” and “bear one another’s burdens.” Compassion is central to who we are as Christians.

But as you read the New Testament, you start to see that even Jesus, during His earthly ministry, didn’t heal every sick person or solve every problem. Yet, He always faithfully ministered to those in front of Him. You also notice that the Apostle Paul couldn’t be everywhere at once, so he would entrust the churches to God’s care and to other people who could tangibly help.

The point is that they operated within their God-given human limitations, and so should we.

God has placed you exactly where you are, with the people around you, for His purposes. Your calling isn’t to fix everything everywhere. Your calling is to love faithfully where you are.

So we must learn to be wise stewards of the compassion that God gives us.

We should:

-Pray for needs that come across your heart, knowing that God hears, cares, and acts far beyond our reach (Philippians 4:6-7).

-Serve and love in the spaces where He has placed you—your family, your church, your local community (Galatians 6:10).

-Cast the burdens you cannot bear to the One who lovingly carries them all (1 Peter 5:7).

Moral of the story: You are not called to be God. You are called to be faithful where you are. You don’t have to feel guilty for not solving every problem you see online or on the news. You don’t dishonor God by recognizing your creaturely limits…in fact, you honor Him, because you acknowledge His role as the Sovereign One.

May you learn to find rest in the wisdom of your limits, compassion for those in your path, and peace in knowing that only God is strong enough to carry the weight of the world on His shoulders.

And that is more than enough.”

God hasn’t called any of us to be all things to all people at all times, but He has called us to be faithful where we are until He moves us somewhere else. We are not omniscient, but we have 24/7 access to an omniscient and omnipresent God through prayer. Let that be our first and last option today in all things.

“yeah, so maybe the day didn’t go quite as planned, because, hey, let’s be real honest here, we aren’t what we would have planned.

But, we can hear it, in all the noise everywhere, the grace of Your whispering Word right here: ‘All that matters? Is that I have loved you at your darkest. All that matters is that you are deeply loved in the midst of your deepest dark.’ Ro.5:8

So, yeah , we sit with that — sit with that for a good, long bit. That binds up the wounds.

The grace in Christ is far greater than the mess in our crisis.

That changes our world tonight…

#HonestPrayers#1000Gifts” (Ann Voskamp).

So what happens when your day doesn’t go as planned? So many of us aren’t where we thought we’d be. So many are unemployed, unmarried, unsure of what the next day will hold. But we can be sure that our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We can be sure that His promises for us are still YES and AMEN. We can know that whatever happens in the next 24 hours, because of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus, everything is going to be okay.

I’d rather be in the middle of God’s will than have every single thing go my way and go exactly like I planned it because my plans are based on my very finite perspective while God is seeing the whole picture from start to finish. I trust God’s hand because I trust God’s heart, so I know that even when I can’t see it, He’s working all things together for my good.

Not that long ago, it felt like the Arctic Circle in Middle Tennessee with the lingering ice and snow and single digit temperatures. Today, it felt much warmer, and tomorrow will feel positively like spring. Welcome to the crazy bipolar weather of Tennessee. If you don’t like it, stick around for 24-48 hours and it will change.

I know I wanted to live somewhere with all four seasons, but this is a bit absurd. I wasn’t expecting to get them all in one week. I’m not sure if I should get out my winter coat or my suntan lotion.

Still, I’m thankful for the reminder of God’s faithfulness in every season. Spring, summer, fall, and winter are speak to some aspect of God’s work in the world. There are seasons of green and growth, of abundance and fertility, of decay and change, and of silence and rest. Each one makes the others possible.

Still, I like them in their proper places. Spring needs to stay in its lane and you Northern people need to come get your winter out of our backyard because I think it’s had a little too much to drink, if you know what I mean.