Do You Know Your Mediator?

I’ve walked into my share of dicey meetings in my life. More than a few times, I’m the cause of why that meeting is dicey – I’ve said or done something rash, and now I’m about to face the consequences of my actions. Other times, my defensiveness takes a meeting and amps the level up to 11. My heart is racing, my palms sweaty, and I’m ready to defend my honour.

I’m grateful for a number of wise individuals who have acted as my mediator through the years. Not only have they smoothed over potentially explosive situations, but they have come back to me to talk through my thought patterns and help me understand how I have made a situation much worse than it needed to be.

That relationship is key. They knew my intent, but they also had spent the time with me to build trust so that I could hear their (hard) words in a tense situation and put myself in their hands.

Weekly Practice: Bold Prayer

Jesus understands. Often, the church can focus so heavily on Jesus’ deity and God-ness, that we neglect that he was also fully man. He walked this earth with dirty, sweaty feet, and experienced everything that makes us human. He struggled with the forces of evil, and overcame. He gave himself over to death, and now lives in heaven with the Father, mediating on our behalf.

Hebrews 4:14-16 walks us through the implications of Jesus as our High Priest. He understands our weakness – and so we can run boldly into the throne room of God to receive his mercy and grace. Shame tells us either to do more, or to run away – but God invites us to run to Him and break that cycle.

This week, our practice is to practice that boldness in our prayer. Bold in our prayers for others. Bold in our honesty with God. Boldly trusting in His mercy and grace.

I’ve become too timid in the ways I pray. I rob myself of the opportunity to experience the mercy of God, and in turn offer my own mercy to others around me. I’m trusting that will change this week.