Small Talk

154/365

I don’t know about anyone else, but I really hate small talk. Probably one of my least favorite activities is making the rounds in a room where the conversations never escalate past married life and current employment. I realize that this sounds super unsocial, and that could account for the small number of close friends I can claim, but it is just the way that I’m wired.

Recently, Brian and I attended a wedding for a couple of mutual friends. Immediately, upon our arrival, we were greeted with acquaintances long forgotten. And, just as assumed, nothing but routine small talk followed. How’s work? What are you doing now? Are you still in school?

It has kind of hit me all of a sudden why I don’t feel great about these conversation topics…I think I’m embarrassed. I graduated from Seminary school, a fact unhidden to my peers. I hope, one day, to become a teacher of the Word, a goal not yet achieved. I am still in the same career that I have been in for the past four years and, apparently, a bit self-conscious about it.

Luke 10:2
“Ask the Lord of the harvest…” – NIV

I suppose that at one time or another, we have all struggled with God’s plan for our life. Are we doing what we should be doing? Are we really fulfilling the role that we were created to fill? If He wants us in particular roles, He will place us…right?
We question His intentions and where He would have us place our time and energy. As believers, we know full well that it is impossible to know our Lord of the harvest without participating in its development.

It is so easy, in our haste, to forget that the first step in God’s work is always prayer. Perhaps, as hard as it may be to accept, our current role in the harvest aligns with this passage in Luke: Asking.