Sustainer

God is our sustainer.  We know this.  We sing about it, we listen to sermons about it, if we are preachers or teachers we tell stories about it.  Its part of our christian speak, its one of the things we believe,  yet often skate right over grasping deeply.  Our cultural practices aren't helpful either, we don't leave a lot of room for being 'sustained'.  We ensure all of our needs are met, our plans are carefully exectuted, t's are crossed and i's are dotted.

In spite of us,  God intrudes into our independent and insulated lives.  He speaks, He moves, He guides, He teaches.  Maybe we miss it more than we observe it.

This is Leadership Week at Bethany.  All of the student leaders (RA's, interns, and student council) are on campus for a while before everyone else comes this weekend.  It's been great having these amazing young people around.  The campus is alive.  there is learning in all sorts of spaces, mostly not classrooms!  Students are praying and talking in quiet little groups, they're singing worship songs accompanied by a lone guitar, they're seeking out mentors from staff and faculty, they're preparing spiritually for the year ahead.  Finally, we remember why we're here, and all petty worries about the papers on our desk and the mountain of work is put into perspective.

Into this context God has made it clearer than ever to me that He is our sustainer.  In our lives, in our families, at Bethany College, he sustains and provides for it all.  He holds it all together, and that is for some reason so much more than a sunday school lesson today. 

It is a privilege to be part of the Leadership team at Bethany College.   Today, we were invited to join the end of a footwashing service, where young leaders dedicated themselves to the task of serving the students who have not yet arrived on campus.  As I walked into the chapel at the end of the service, my eyes were immediately teary, there was something heavy and beautiful and ALIVE in that room.  There was a pulsing, vibrant sense of love and dedication, of surrender and faith that could only be missed by the hardest of hearts.  I was humbled by the privilege of praying into the lives and ministry of future world changers who long to be trained and prepared for a life of service.  I was deeply and poignantly reminded why I'm at Bethany, why any of us is at Bethany, and what all of us are working toward.. and how much bigger than Bethany that purpose is.

a repeated message throughtout the week and the day: And God Sustains It All.

I've found my theme word for the year.