At staff meetings we have been reading some inspiring chapters from the Gospel of Luke.  When I think of Luke, one of the first things that come to my mind is that he was a physician.  One that healed others probably before healing himself.  Although he never met or physically walked with Jesus, he preached the good news as a disciple of Paul.  And although he portrayed Jesus as the perfect man, he wanted to give us readers a picture of what life might look like if we walked along with Jesus. 

I’ve been reading from a “leadership” bible that was a gift from my friend, Laura, whom I’ve known for over 25 years. Ok more like 28 – Uff!    When she gave this bible to me, we had just moved from Florida to Minnesota.  This move was one of the most difficult decisions we had ever made.  One that affected our family unit (our son who was in college in Florida stayed behind – and from being only 4 hours away was now 24 hours away by car).  No longer where we able to drive up on a weekend to see him.  We left our moms behind, our friends, our life as we knew it.  Laura dedicated the bible as follows:  Frances, God is in control !!!   At the time I didn’t quite understand the magnitude of those words.  We had moved away from everything we knew, a home, family, friends.  Little by little, as my faith continued to grow, I began to notice that Jesus had laid a path for me and my family.  One I would have never been able to “see” would I have stayed in Florida, I’m sure of it.  God is in control.

On the sleeve of this leadership bible, the author wrote:  “No matter who you are or what you do, you are a leader, a person of influence.  And to be a truly effective leader, you must first be able to lead yourself.  Whether you’re a parent, a teacher, a department director, a pastor, a coach – you’re a leader, a person of influence.”  How we lead ourselves to care for ourselves is important.

Luke writes about Jesus’ miracles and life in chronological order. We live in chronological order (most of the time, at least).  And we tend to look at our past and our future, but sometimes not so much at our present.  I had a great job, had a great house, had, had, had.  I want a new car, want to travel, want, want, want.  But, do we live in the now?  The present?  How do we lead and how do we influence?  With the past, the present or what’s to be?  God is in control.

Luke presents Jesus as a compassionate man.  People came to him to ask for miracles and he showed them compassion and healing.  He never disappointed anyone’s hopes. He showed them love – a love that surpasses all understanding!  I feel we don’t often talk about love, compassion and healing in the workplace.  And at home we might talk about love but do we talk about having compassion toward our children? Our spouse?  And how often do we talk about healing?  Physical, mental and spiritual? 

To walk beside Jesus, means to act like him.  To have compassion, to show love, to heal.  But how can we do these things when we don’t even recognize when we need to be compassionate?  When we need to love?  What we need to heal?  God is in control.

We need to open ourselves to God.  Be vulnerable. Live today and let God be in control.  He is the one that has built our paths.  If we take a wrong turn, there’s always time to change direction.  Sometimes we don’t see the path we need to take because we’re so busy with our lives.  And sometimes it just takes a long time, perhaps not because we don’t want to take the path, but because perhaps it just wasn’t the right time.  God is in control.

We must always remember that there is hope.  There is love.  There is compassion.  There is healing.  And like Luke, the physician, – who walked with Jesus even though he never met him in person, we must remember to walk with Him.  Jesus Christ – the great physician, the great healer. 

With the healing, love, hope and compassion of Jesus Christ, we must remember, that he puts people in our paths to heal us – and for us to heal others.  He lays out roads to travel, so we can offer hope – and receive hope.   Sometimes those roads are rough – but I think they are rough to remind us when we forget about his abundant love.  To see compassion, feel compassion, live compassion. 

My brothers and sisters – God is in control!!!

Let us pray,

Lord God, you sent us your only son to walk among us to show us love, hope and compassion in the flesh.  Let the words of the great physician heal us in time of pain.  Comfort us in times of sorrow.  Show us hope in a life full of despair, unknowns, pain and illness both physical and mental.  May we continuously learn to serve you and others with love and compassion.  Grant us the ability to know you have empowered us to help lead others to you through our gifts, outstretched arms and hearts.  Grant us the ability to recognize when we need to ask for your help.  When we are hungry, when we are in need of your love and compassion so we can help heal with your love before we can help heal or help others.  For you are the way, the truth and the life.

For You, God,  are always in control.   Amen