Issue 302
Every so often during a rugby game you will hear the ref eree shout “use it or lose it!” This warning is given to a team who are killing the ball, dwelling on it, and making no progress. If they do not respond they will forfeit or lose possession of the ball, and with it control of the game.
If you are not interested in rugby this principle also applies to muscle tone. The less you use a muscle, the weaker and smaller it becomes. If you have ever injured a limb and needed immobilizing plaster, then you will be acutely aware of how dramatic that muscle wastage can be.
What is true in the fitness game and the game of rugby is also true in the game of life. Each day you need a ration of resources to get you through that day. Every day has its demands and challenges to which you have to respond and rise. Days are different – some are fairly prosaic and easygoing, others are difficult and daunting and most are on the sliding scale in-between.
So Jesus of Nazareth, who took up His cross and met the demands of His days, taught us to follow Him, by praying a particular type of prayer. The second section of that prayer reads “give us each day (or today) our daily bread”.
To an Israeli listener, a statement like that would immediately evoke the narrative of the Exodus where God provided daily bread (manna) for the acommunity wandering in the wilderness for forty years. This group of 600,000 men (maybe 1.8 million in total including women and children) would probably have received 23.35 million tons of food. The rules of the “game” were, however, that it had to be collected and consumed on a daily basis or it went off – use it or lose it.
Now you are in a position to develop a daily discipline related to this principle which you can take with you to work and bring home with you at the weekends:
The first part of this discipline involves asking. You can ask at the beginning of the day and at any point through the day. Sometimes you ask knowing what you need; at other times you ask knowing that you need. No matter, it is a request for resources equal to the demands of the day.
Secondly you will have to adopt an attitude of belief, trusting that your Heavenly Father will be true to Himself and His character and supply you with what you need for that day. This belief is not just about God supplying, but about him knowing what you actually need. Our estimates of our own needs are often as accurate as quotes from a cowboy plumber. God, however, has a more realistic approach to the jobs in hand.
The next component in this discipline will involve collecting the resources. Every day in the desert the Israelites collected the provisions from the ground. How you collect will depend on what you asked for and what you need. If it is wisdom – you may collect it by listening, reading or thinking. If it is information – you may collect it by browsing or discussing. If it is a physical item – you may need to check your mail. One way or another you will need to collect , and God may have to show you how you need to do that.
Having gathered your resource you need dispose of it. If you don’t use it you’ll lose it. So now the task in hand is to dispense it – If it is wisdom;,distribute it – if it is some physical resource, delegate it -if there is an element of shared responsibility, disperse it,if the quantity is sufficient for you and for others. Thebottom line is that you have to do something with what you have received.
Every day as you practise this principle you will build up a repertoire of experience which will in turn teach you how to ask more accurately and then proceed more wisely through the next steps. This experience will deepen your beliefs and sharpen your ability to collect the resources. It will clarify your focus and help you discern what to do when you have those resources.
One thing it will show you is the meaning of the word ’us’ in your asking. Sometimes God will supply you individually with more than you need because He wants you to distribute it to someone else – so that you become part of their supply chain as they learn the collection part of God’s discipline in their lives.
And all of these steps will strengthen your faith. A daily practice of this multifaceted discipline will nourish your faith in your Father. I wish I could say that all doubt and uncertainty disappear when you do this. In reality it seems that we share some traits with the proverbial goldfish, who allegedly swims round the tank and forgets what he has just done.
This discipline, whilst building faith, is one which needs to be practised every single day. We seem to have an enormous capacity to forget and panic. We appear to need to learn new lessons of faith each day – maybe that’s the way it’s supposed to be – use it or lose it.
P.S if only the six elements of this discipline spelt a word it might help you to remember them. Ask; believe; collect; dispose; experience; faith. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a memorable way of spelling them out!
Luke 11:1-4
1One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2He said to them, “When you pray, say: ” ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 3Give us each day our daily bread. 4Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’ ”
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Work well
Geoff Shattock
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