Dear West Family

It is amazing to me how children expose our own sin and vulnerability. The things that my kids do that frustrate me the most are the things I see in them that I like least about myself. The clearest current example in our home is when my kids want to quit something because they don’t think they can do it. Our daughter has played “basketball” this semester. The air quotes are because it bears very little resemblance to the actual sport, although it has been amazing to see how much they have improved. Katie hasn’t loved it, which is a hyperbolically euphemistic way of saying it, and she has wanted to quit on more than a few occasions. It has taken all of our parental resilience to stand firm and make her finish the season and in the end she has made us very proud of the way that she has pressed through. 

It’s like a mirror though. When I see a kid wanting to quit something that they don’t think they are good at, I really see myself, and 44 years of self-preservation at play lest my greatest fear - that of looking foolish in an epic failure - is realized.

This was churning in my head the other day when my bible reading plan had me in Exodus 4. The story reflects a conversation between Moses and God, where God calls Moses to go and be His spokesman before the leaders of Israel and then the leaders of Egypt. Moses is stubbornly resistant, leaning on every excuse in every sort of book and looking for all sorts of ways to get out of an assignment that had “potential to look like a fool” written all over it. What struck me in the interchange (other than how much I am like the whiney version of Moses) was the question that God asked him.

“What is that in your hand?” - Ex 4:2 (CSB)

What Moses had in his hand was a shepherd’s staff, which made sense as shepherding was his current vocation, but forgive me for stating the obvious, God didn’t ask Moses what he had in his hand because he couldn’t see it, or recognize it for what it was. God made every tree from which every staff had ever been hewn. He knew what Moses had in his hand, but He wanted Moses to stop and to look down at the little that He could bring which could pave the way for the miraculous power that God could bring.

Moses didn’t need all the things that he didn’t already possess in order to get started in fulfilling his purpose in God’s plans in the world. He just needed what he already had his hand, and God was going to do the rest.

So friends, what is it that you already possess? What is already in your hands? How can you offer that up in all of its meagerness to the God of the universe so that He could turn it into a mighty display of His strength? Don’t hedge your bets and quit on the purposes that God has for you just because you fear looking foolish in failure. Let us be a people who dare greatly for God, and who are prepared to start right where we are with the resources we already have in our hands.

The music this week is an absolute smasher. It is from a rare shared stage appearance between Mumford and Sons, and Gang of Youths (my favorite band of 2022). They are playing a cover of a song called “Blood” by the Aussie band, “The Middle East.” It is a work of art capturing some really tragic lyrics set against some of the most joyful instrumentation you will ever hear. It is like life. Tragic and beautiful and hopeful and fun and miserable and hilarious and really sad all at the same time.

Mumford & Sons and Gang Of Youths - Blood (Live in Stockholm)

See you Sunday.
Ross