Micah 6: 6-8
The world's problems can feel overwhelming. War and conflict in Gaza, Ukraine, and beyond. Threats to our democratic, financial, and even religious institutions. Violence and crime that could strike any of us.
Of course, if I could either go backward or forward in time by ten, one hundred, or one thousand years, I would find an overwhelming set of problems beyond my capacity to fix. The world will always be filled with turmoil and inhumane acts.
That's why I have to consider the bee.
My friend, Rev. Edlen Cowley, recently pointed out that a worker bee will carry enough nectar over the course of its lifetime to create 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey - a few tiny drops. It takes a whole hive to produce honey of any substantial amount. To make one pound of honey, worker bees fly 55,000 miles and extract from more than one million flowers.
Similarly, my own meager efforts will fall well short of solving the world's problems. But together, many of us can make an impact.
God doesn't expect us to fix all of the world's problems. I can't find a Bible verse telling me to fix all of the world's problems. Instead, we hear Jesus telling us to shine the light of our individual lamps before the world. We read God's expectation about the essential work we can do in Micah 6:6-8, and it's not about the volume of magnificent acts.
With what shall I come before the Lord
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
When we act with justice for the oppressed and the weak, when we cherish and exhibit kindness and forgiveness, when we walk with our Lord daily with a humble attitude rather than an arrogant or judgmental attitude, then we are doing the essential work of God. If more and more of us "worker bees" fulfilled such individual duties, then the sum of our efforts would provide plentiful sweet honey to an aching, troubled, hungry world.
There are few things I like better than speaking to live audiences. I would love to speak at your church or to your group! The topic can be a 7-day practical faith topic from one of my books, or it can be a topic of your choosing. Let's get something going! Please reach out to me at Cecil@CecilTaylorMinistries.com.
Comments