The Mundane Challenges

Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” (Matthew 14:15 ESV)

So, we've talked about "hard eucharisteo."  Being able to find grace in the most terrible trials of life.  But, you know... I think any person of true faith has learned to do that.  What else can we do when our world is falling apart, but look for something to sustain us?  And when we look, we find.

I think the real "hard eucharisteo" comes from the mundane challenges of life:  the kids are constantly fighting; the car breaks down and we know it's going to cost a lot more than we have to fix it; the gossipy co-worker has targeted us; gas prices and grocery prices are going up... again; our spouse has been moody and argumentative; a miscalculation in our checking account has bounced a check and now we face the resulting and seemingly endless bank fees; the grandchild tug-of-war with the in-laws.  And you really have to love when all of this happens at once!

No death... no life-changing injury or illness... no divorce or job loss.  Just the nit-picky stuff that happens in real life.  How do we give thanks in the midst of this?  How do we even remember to look for the grace when we are balancing all this stuff?  I freely admit it... when my car won't start and I need to be somewhere, the last thing I am thinking is "hmmm... where do I see God here?"

Two things can help:

1.  If we are truly practicing thanksgiving and acknowledging each gift of God as it comes and really articulating why we are thankful for it, maybe the first thing we think of during the mundane challenges WILL be "where do I see God."  It will become second... no, first nature to us.  It will have become more natural for us to find the grace than to curse the situation.

2.  Christian community.  If we have a group of Christians friends to whom we can vent about all these things, they can help us remember to look for the grace.  They might even be able to point it out for us.  I arrived late to work the other day and complained to my co-worker that everything that morning seemed to be against me getting to work on time.  She said, maybe I avoided a car accident by being late.  She pointed out the grace that I didn't even bother to look for.

Jesus took the mundane challenge of people over-staying their welcome and instead of complaining, gave thanks and the miracle of the loaves and fishes occured.  You will haave a mundane challenge today.  When you find yourself stressing about one of these situations, stop.  Breathe.  Say a prayer... of thanksgiving.  And find the grace... and maybe a miracle.

Father,
Help us not to get so sidetracked by our day to day problems that we forget to give thanks.  Help us to be so practiced at acknowledging you that looking for grace will come naturally even in the mundane.  Amen.