In Herman Melville's Moby Dick, there's a turbulent scene in which a whaleboat pursues the great white whale. The sailors are laboring fiercely. The cosmic conflict between good and evil is joined. Chaotic sea and demonic sea monster versus a morally outraged man, Captain Ahab. In this boat, though, there is one man who does nothing. He's the harpooner. Quiet, poised, waiting. And then this sentence: "To ensure the greatest efficiency of the dart, the harpooners of this world must start to their feet out of idleness and not out of toil."

"...put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore" (Psalm 131:3).

Lord Jesus, help us to live and minister out of a quiet confidence in Your sufficiency rather than out of a desperate franticness. In Your holy name we pray Amen.

Photo of the WeekRev. Rob Schenck, President of Faith and Action, with Chief of Program Peggy Nienaber at the dedication of the William Bentley Ball Memorial Archive