Last night we had small group.

And we finished with lectio -

or at least our version of it!

I love the dynamic of God speaking through His Spirit,

into, and through the people gathered.

I loved hearing what God’s Spirit was causing people to notice.

And then how we prayed those things in simple prayers.

And this morning I’ve continued contemplating those things…

wondering, pondering…inviting God into my thoughts…into the deep places of me.

And I’d love to share just a couple of things I’m contemplating…

…I guess for no other reason than to try and draw out this ongoing relationship with Him and His Word that God invites us into.

If God’s Word is living and active then we should expect it to go on doing stuff with us and in us – and I think that happens….God does stuff with us…when we allow His Word to ask questions of us…when we allow ourselves to look upon Jesus and consider Him a little bit more…when we are happy to sit with questions…when we hear the invitations that emerge from His words…inviting us inwards, onwards, outwards, upwards.

Anyway…

We were in Matthew 14:13-21.

One person reflected on what led Jesus to withdraw to a solitary place.

Jesus was grieving the murder of John the Baptist. And he wanted time to process that…to pray…to receive from His Father.

I found myself pondering this insight into the humanity of Jesus.

And found myself thanking Him that it is precisely because of this aspect of his humanity that we can trust Him with our grief…and brokenness…and despair…and pain – Jesus knows what it is to process pain.

But then just a few verses later we see Jesus doing this wonderful miracle of feeding 5000.

And I found myself drawn into the mystery of Jesus who is both fully human and fully God.

In the space of a few verses, I was confronted with something of the fullness of Jesus. And I took joy in delighting a little more in Him.

And as we prayed, someone commented on how the 5000 didn’t include the women and the children – and they prayed for the overlooked and forgotten and marginalised. And that struck me.

And someone else drew attention to v16 and I found myself lingering on Jesus’ words: “They don’t need to go away. You give them something to eat.” I was hearing His invitation to each one of us – that Jesus wants us to be involved in His work. And I was relating that to something God had been stirring within me earlier in the week. And all of a sudden God is not just speaking into that moment, but is also speaking into my past and into my future.

So I am grateful for being part of His body…a people…through whom and with whom I hear God’s voice.

I am grateful to God – that He speaks.

And I am grateful for the depth and colour and richness of His Word – which in itself is a window into the beauty of our Heavenly Father.

Love you family.