Mark and Messy Disciples: a review so far {Blogging through the Bible}

Have you ever started a project that turned into something much, much bigger than you'd expected?

I have.

In fact, I do it all the time... (for example, refer to my idea of refinishing the wood floors in our house). I start with the idea and I understand the basic concept, but the actual execution is much, much more intense that I expect.

This devotional series in Mark has been no different.

To be honest, when I started exploring the book of Mark, I kind of thought that pointing out the mistakes the disciples made in this book and then how we as Christians make the same mistakes would be somewhat uncomplicated. What I didn't realize was that this series was going to expose me.



The past few weeks have been much more challenging than I expected.

Every single devotion I've written in this series has unearthed a piece of my soul that I didn't realize needed to be dredged up.  After taking a break from writing devotions while we recovered from the unexpected craziness of having our baby and learning how to do life as a family of three, I didn't really expect to jump right back in with a deep, soul searching, self-exploratory string of posts. It definitely wasn't my plan.

So far, I've realized that my walk as a disciple has been incredibly cushy and safe, and that I sit in my salvation without doing much to grow.

I've learned that (yet again) my need to find the approval of other people drives me to neglect God's real plans for me.

I've been confronted with the fact that I am so, so forgetful when it comes to God's love for me and His incredible power.

I have been haunted by the things I don't do, the things I don't notice, and the truths that I don't want to hear.

And I'm not even done with the book, yet.



I have to say, God's been really putting me through the wringer. And the wringer is called Mark.

But that's how God grows us, isn't it? By challenging, pushing, bringing things into our lives that we didn't expect and didn't ask for... or sometimes in giving us exactly what we asked for. It's the blessing of the speckled goats. Growing in the things we didn't expect.

And so I wanted to take this week to just stop and reflect and think about the things God has shown me so far.

And just in case you missed any of it, here are all the devotions in the series so far...

     

     

Here's to the growing, my friends. May we journey well.

...   ...   ...

This post is part of the Blogging through the Bible link up!

Members of my Blogging through the Bible group have each chosen a book of the Bible to study and write about! This is a fun opportunity to get to know more Christian bloggers, and to dig deeper with them into God's Word!

Please stop by some of these blogs to read what they have to share today!

(If you're interested in joining in on the link up, I encourage you to join the Facebook Group!)

DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging habit, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog. You may see a full disclosure by clicking on my "About" page. I will only promote products that I use, enjoy, or take a shine to. All opinions and reviews are my own and are not influenced by any compensation I may receive.