Bits for Sunday, May 24, 2009

This week has been one of the more eventful weeks I’ve had in a while, yet I find myself with little to say. At least little that is meaningful. I know I rarely have little to say. :)

My sister, brother-in-law, and niece came to visit, and I’ve loved spending time with them. In fact, as I type, my niece is stretched out on the floor, taking a nap, while the Jon and Kate marathon plays in the background. We’ve had some great laughs, eaten an extraordinary amount of (calorie-free, I’m sure) food, and of course, taken a variety of scrap-worthy photos.

Maybe the flurry of activity and…eating…has slowed my brain to the point of being unable to come up with something meaningful to share. Maybe I’m just not trying hard enough. But it’s okay, because I have yet another Jim Elliot quote to share.

I’m ever so slowly (emphasis on “ever so”) working my way though Jim Elliot’s journal, and the entry I read last night both comforted and challenged me. This was written during his junior year of college, which makes it even more impressive to me…although I know his words weren’t meant to impress. He has a Greek word in this entry, and not being fluent in Greek, I have no idea what it is or what it might mean. But here it is, minus that word:

Yesterday was one of those [Greek word here] days – idle, not working in the inner man. Yes, I studied but could not draw anything specific from the chapter to put down here. Strange that I cannot with such a chapter as Exodus 12 find any fresh practical truth. I know it must be there, but my unbelief makes me shortsighted.

I found that passage comforting, because from what I know of his life and work, and certainly from what I’ve read so far in the journal book, he was definitely a God-pursuer. One of my favorite things to do in Bible study is to pick through verses and find hidden treasures in them. From the journal entries, I can see that Jim had an even better grasp of how to do that at a much younger age. I’m fascinated with the things I learn from his work. To know that he, too, had “off” days, comforts me.

But as I shared in Sunday School this morning, I find it so challenging that it bothered him. I have “off” days, too – and more of them than I’d like to admit – but when I do, I usually chide myself a little and wait to see if the next day is better. Jim, on the other hand, went so far as to recognize his spirit of unbelief and admit he should have been able to learn more.

I noticed that when I get ready to read in his journal again tonight, he picks up the very next day with Exodus 12 again. He didn’t sit around for days, making excuses or waiting for the mood to strike again. He sat down right away, determined to learn, and from the length of the reading ahead of me, I’d say that the new day must have been successful in the land of learning.

I’ll admit that the busyness of the week behind me did get in the way of the quality of my time with God. I’m capable of digging more than I did this week. But I’m determined to work hard and get back in there to learn all I can. I don’t want to be caught up in being shortsighted.