Making Connections

"Repent, turn around, and believe the Good News!" is how the author of Mark summarizes Jesus’ message. What is the good news? God is with us, God is moving among us, God is within us! We have all we need for life!

And yet how often do we act on that news or live as though it were true in our lives? According to God’s promise, we are blessed with God’s very presence, which means God’s love, God’s wisdom, God’s encouragement.

Perhaps like Russell the Robin, we would rather believe that we don’t have what it takes. Perhaps we are afraid of failing or making a fool of ourselves, or perhaps worry that the Good News isn’t that good or that true. As a result we find ourselves in a kind of wilderness of spiritual dryness, worry, anxiety or confusion.

This is precisely why in the Gospel of Mark Jesus comes rushing out of his wilderness with his simple message, “Stop, turn around, believe in the Good News!”—Believe in who you are! Believe in the God who made you, who is with you, who calls you by name, and then watch and see the wonderful blessings that will unfold in your life! God’s transformational power is in you, you can find blessing throughout your life, even in the most dire of circumstances.

What beliefs are limiting you, your children, your family today? Stop, turn around, God is with you. Stop, turn around, believe the Good News.

Perhaps like Russell we need to change our focus, to stop focusing on what we believe we cannot do and focus on who we are in God, focus on the life and words of Jesus, and then like Russell we will find our heart’s desire, we will experience fullness, we will find our voice, our gift.