Devotion: What We’ve Learned
What We’ve Learned
Please take a moment to read Matthew 14:1-21
“… when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself… when he went ashore he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them…” Matthew 14:13
This is how the story begins of Jesus feeding the 5,000. What Jesus had heard was that his cousin, John the Baptist, had been brutally murdered. This happened because of Jesus. Clearly his “withdrawing to a deserted place” was done out of both Jesus’ pain and grief. What happens next? Jesus shows compassion and he begins to serve.
In my sermon on Sunday I offered that, perhaps, this pattern is the most important part of the story. Sure, feeding 5,000 is a huge miracle! I believe, however, that the greater lesson is that God calls us to move from our pain to compassion, and from compassion to serving others. This is certainly what Jesus does in Matthew 14. This pattern is tough to replicate. It takes great emotional maturity to keep ourselves from making our pain into the excuse to lash out at others, or to internalize our own self-loathing. But again, this is what I think God is calling us to do through Jesus’ example.
Can you think of a place of emotional pain in your life where you turned ugly? Can you think of a place of emotional pain in your life that you converted to compassion for others? I am guessing that if you look at the time when you experienced your greatest level of serving, you will find that came from compassion born out of repurposed pain.
Sometimes the biggest accomplishments (like feeding 5,000), come from the deepest pain.
Gracious God, give us the courage to reflect on the hard places in life. Give us the strength to try to convert them into compassion. And give us a heart of service, we pray. Amen.
Written by Pastor Greg Bouvier
Pastor Greg heard God’s call to Sheridan in 1999 and that began a journey which has become his life’s work. Having played a variety of roles as pastor of Sheridan, Pastor Greg was called as the Senior Pastor in 2011. He leads the staff and his primary focus is on the creation of culture, the overall direction of worship and partnering with our amazing team. Pastor Greg has been married to Rose for more than 30 years and together they have two servant-hearted grown children.