Do you ever feel like you’re the only one you can count on? Does it sometimes feel like everything ends up falling on you? Maybe at home you’re the only one who cleans up around the house or at work you’re the one member of the team that ends up making sure the project gets done. As Superintendent sometimes I’ve felt that the success or failure of the school rested solely with me. Of course the real truth for me and for you is that rarely is it really all about us as an individual; wins and losses or success vs. failure don’t really come down to one person. But if we believe that to be the case and trudge forward convinced that we’re the only one that’s responsible it’s probably inevitable that we’ll make matters worse. We can’t do it alone and rarely if ever are we really supposed to.
I’ve been thinking about this idea in the context of our theme for this school year “You are not alone…you’re connected!” based on John 16:32b-33. In the Old Testament I’m sure there were times when Moses thought he was on his own and it was up to him to make God’s “action plan” a reality. But it was never just about Moses. Numbers 11:16-17 tell us “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone.”
I love the idea that God put his Spirit into those around Moses so he did not have to go it alone. I know when I look around at St. Luke’s I can see the Spirit overflowing in my ministry colleagues at our school; I never have to experience any kind of trial or challenge alone because of the wonderful men and women of God who serve with me. I’m very thankful it’s not all on me! Look around where you live and work and serve – can you see those God has filled with His Spirit to help? You are not alone!