What Was I Thinking?

Driving down I-10, I glanced at the clock on my dashboard and noted “10:20”. “Good. I’ll get to the airport about 11:40 and have time to get a salad before I board my plane,” I thought to myself. Then I did a double-take. “No, wait! My plane LEAVES at 11:40!” That’s when panic set in. “There’s no way I can make my plane to the Iowa P.R.A.Y. with Passion Across the Nation Conference! What was I thinking?” I scolded myself as I thought back to before I left the house. Thinking I had plenty of time, I had watered the plants, tidied the house, visited with the men working on our home, patted our dog, Abby, goodbye, and Keith had prayed for me as he always does before I head out to teach.

“What was I thinking?” I again scolded myself. Being a seasoned traveler, I have a well rehearsed travel schedule; leaving myself ample time to get to the airport. But this morning I clearly wasn’t thinking. I had the information I needed to get to the airport on time, but processed it incorrectly.

Have you ever done something similar? Have you ever “missed it” in relation to what you thought someone was saying when in reality they were saying something totally different? Have you ever had it “in your head” that something was a certain way and you later found out you were wrong?

Jesus warns us about something He wants us to clearly “get”. He doesn’t want us to have it wrongly in our head. It was nearing Holy Week, when Jesus would be arrested and crucified. His time was short and His message important. The disciples were wrongly thinking: “He was nearing Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.” (Luke 19:11) So Jesus told them a parable to help them understand that the kingdom of heaven wasn’t going to immediately appear. Rather, He, like the nobleman in the parable, was going to a distant country to receive His kingdom and would then return. In the meantime, He gave entrustments to His servants to do business with until He returned.

One of the main points in Jesus’ parable is that He expects us to faithfully use what He has entrusted to us. In other words, if we think, “I can’t see Jesus. He’s not here. I don’t know when He’s returning. I’m timid to attempt to serve Christ and His purposes,” then we are thinking wrong! Very wrong! Christ tells a dramatic parable to make the point that He has given to each of us an entrustment in the form of being able to contribute to other’s needs, teach, encourage, serve, help, exercise faith, or some other gift. We’re not to be like the servant in the parable who hid what he had been entrusted with. (Luke 19:20) The nobleman, Christ, upon His return, didn’t sympathize with the fearful servant. Instead, He judged him for being disobedient. The nobleman (Christ) had specifically said, “Do business with this (His money) until I come back,” Luke 19:13.

To make sure we are clearly thinking, let’s summarize.
Christ is returning.
Christ has given each of us an entrustment.
He expects us to serve Him while He is away.

What entrustment has God given to you? Is it to raise your children to know the Lord? Is it to model kindness to your family? Is it to teach by example Christ’s ways of relating to one another at your workplace?

When plans don’t go our way, when our husband doesn’t do what we expected, or our children don’t behave like we wish they would,or our co-workers aren’t kind, it’s easy to get discouraged. However, often God has another plan; one that involves growing us and others.

If we’re thinking, “I don’t like my life. I don’t like my responsibilities,” maybe we should think again and consider them as entrustments from God. Maybe instead of burying our head in the sand, we should acknowledge that the Lord has entrusted us with our family, friends, and responsibilities, and we should get busy about the work of modeling Christ to them in anticipation of His return.

Lord, it’s so easy for us to think self-centeredly and not think correctly on Your words and commands. Help each of us today to “get it” and not miss the point. You’re the nobleman who has a heavenly kingdom. You’re coming back. You hold us accountable for what we do with what You’ve entrusted to us. May each of us be alert to ways we can faithfully serve You in our homes, churches, and places to which you’ve called us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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