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That it may please thee to strengthen such as do stand; to comfort and help the weak-hearted; to raise up those who fall; and finally to beat down Satan under our feet, We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
Romans 15:1-2 (The Message) Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, “How can I help?”
I Thessalonians 5:14-15 (AMP) We [earnestly] urge you, believers, admonish those who are out of line [the undisciplined, the unruly, the disorderly], encourage the timid [who lack spiritual courage], help the [spiritually] weak, be very patient with everyone [always controlling your temper]. 15 See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek that which is good for one another and for all people.
I love to hike, every weekend or free day that I can find I am trying to get into the woods. At various times in my life hiking was part of my job or I tried to make it so. My first job as a forestry major in college was as an Interpretive Naturalist ( that’s a park ranger who explains to people what is so cool about Nature). I worked mostly in the State Parks of North Georgia, and every two or three days I would lead people on hikes.
You lead all sorts of people, old and young, fit and fainting on these hikes. Some folks have never stepped off the pavement, others have climbed more mountains than me, some listened to every word I said and others followed along lost in their own thoughts. There were children who stayed right next to me, afraid of every noise and shadow and others who would run out of sight, trip over every root or fall in every creek. Although the path was often the same, every hike was different, for people and Nature can always surprise you.
This prayer today is also a challenge to us. We are charged to grow up in Christ to the point where we can be that person who God uses to help people along this glorious life-path we walk with Jesus. We then learn to help the reckless or stragglers to stay on the path, and gently lead them back when they falter, fail or fall. We should walk with Jesus enough to know the path, to know the difference between a stump and a Sasquatch (it is usually a stump) and to comfort those who don’t. We should be able to find the path of faith when the leaves cover the trail, or know how to shelter from the storms. As much as we pray for these things, we should also learn to live them out by God’s good grace and by His power.
So, be a good Interpreter of the things God has shown you. Learn it, live it and lead. There are wonders to behold in our walks with Jesus, get out on that path and take someone with you.
Peace. Phil Parsons
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From Rodger:
Short and sweet to speak to this point. First, yes, Phil is a certified hiking nut! Ask him sometime about taking me hiking to Roan Mountain in East Tennessee and having to guide us down off Big Yellow Bald in the middle of the night because I was woefully unprepared for the falling temps and ended up with frost-bitten hands!
But more to the point: I learned the proverb this way and mistakenly thought it was some kind of ancient Buddhist teaching: “Your mastery of anything is never complete until you have the capacity to teach it to someone else.”
It may, in fact actually BE an ancient Buddhist teaching: But it’s actually another way of saying what the Nobel Prize winning American theoretical physicist Richard Fernman once said. Feynman, mostly known for his ground-breaking work in the area of quantum mechanics and particle physics, said that he believed his teaching career was far more important than any research or theory he developed. He summed up aptly what I think Phil is getting at above: