God Running is a place for anyone who wants to love Jesus more deeply, follow Jesus more closely, and love people the way Jesus wants us to.
Are You Feeling Your Weakness?
You tell me that you feel your weakness, but that is a grace. . . Do not be afraid! If you do not fail to give Him pleasure in small things, He will be obliged to help you in great ones.
–St. Thérèse of Lisieux
What St. Thérèse says here reminds me of what Jesus said in the parable of the talents. Speaking of the kingdom of heaven, Jesus said,
“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ (Matthew 25:14-23)
The Day of Small Things
I was 11 years old living in a small house on a cove in Island Lake, Illinois. My neighbor just down the street, Al Schmidt, decided to build a big addition to his A-frame and he enlisted my help. He hired me and I became his go-for. The biggest assignment I was ever given during that time was to use a template to drill bolt holes in the 2×12 boards that would make up the A-shaped trusses for the A-frame. Those trusses were huge, maybe 25 feet tall. One of the big days during that project came when the A-shaped trusses were being hoisted up from laying on the ground into a vertical position. While the men were hoisting the second or third truss, at the point where the truss was almost vertical, they lost control of it and it fell back to the floor: where 11 year old Kurt happened to be standing.
Very fortunately for me, the truss fell in such a way that I was left standing in the middle of the triangle at the top of the ‘A’. (Poor Al. He was white as a sheet as he watched it all unfold.)
But I digress. The point I want to make is this was a very small job. If I remember correctly I was working 5 to 20 hours per week and earning about $1.50 per hour. And I didn’t do anything special, but I did begin to learn a little about building a house. (By the way, I checked and you can still see that A-frame on Google Maps.)
Later, when I was 40 years old, Kathy and I built a big beautiful house with a big beautiful view. (It turned out to be such a big beautiful place that we couldn’t afford to live there for long because the property taxes were so high. But that’s a story for a different time.)
So what began as a little thing, working part time as a go-for for $1.50 per hour, eventually led to building something big.
I think that’s a somewhat imperfect illustration of what St. Thérèse and Jesus are talking about.
When you’re feeling weak, don’t despair.
You’re living in the day of small things.
Be as faithful as you’re able in those small things…
Who knows what God might help you to accomplish in the future?
And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
Notes
Thérèse of Lisieux, The Little Way: Reflections on the Joy of Smallness in God’s Infinite Love, Whitaker House, April 4, 2023
The Love Like Jesus Book
Available on Amazon, Google Play Books, and Audible.
Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus)
Love Like Jesus begins with the story of how after a life of regular church attendance and Bible study, Bennett was challenged by a pastor to study Jesus. That led to an obsessive seven year deep dive. After pouring over Jesus’ every interaction with another human being, he realized he was doing a much better job of studying Jesus’ words than he was following Jesus’ words and example. The honest and fearless revelations of Bennett’s own moral failures affirm he wrote this book for himself as much as for others. Love Like Jesus examines a variety of stories, examples, and research, including:
- Specific examples of how Jesus communicated God’s love to others.
- How Jesus demonstrated all five of Gary Chapman’s love languages (and how you can too).
- The story of how Billy Graham extended Christ’s extraordinary love and grace toward a man who misrepresented Jesus to millions.
- How to respond to critics the way Jesus did.
- How to love unlovable people the way Jesus did.
- How to survive a life of loving like Jesus (or how not to become a Christian doormat).
- How Jesus didn’t love everyone the same (and why you shouldn’t either).
- How Jesus guarded his heart by taking care of himself–he even napped–and why you should do the same.
- How Jesus loved his betrayer Judas, even to the very end.
With genuine unfiltered honesty, Love Like Jesus, shows you how to live a life according to God’s definition of success: A life of loving God well, and loving the people around you well too.
A life of loving like Jesus. (Kindle, hardcover, and paperback now available on Amazon and Google Play Books.)
We also recently released the audiobook version, beautifully narrated by Jonathan St. John. It’s available on the following platforms:
It’s also available on Amazon, Hoopla, Audiobooksnow, Chirp, Libro, Overdrive, and virtually everywhere audiobooks are offered.
