Mark 6:13

This verse is from the Gospel of Mark and describes the results of a missionary trip Jesus sent his twelve disciples on. Earlier in the chapter, Jesus gave his disciples authority over evil spirits and sent them out in pairs to preach, heal, and cast out demons. Anointing with oil was a common ancient practice associated with healing and with setting something apart as consecrated — dedicated to God's purposes. What's remarkable is that these were mostly ordinary tradespeople and fishermen, not religious professionals, accomplishing things far beyond their natural abilities.

Lord, you sent ordinary people and extraordinary things happened. I am ordinary too — full of doubts and gaps. Send me anyway. Show me who needs what I can offer today, even when I feel like I don't have much to give. Amen.

These twelve men — fishermen who smelled like the lake, a tax collector nobody trusted, ordinary working people — walked into towns where people were sick, tormented, and suffering. And things actually happened. Real things. Not after years of theological training. Not after they'd worked through all their own questions about faith. Right then, mid-confusion, mid-doubt, while they were still arguing about who among them was the greatest. It's tempting to read stories like this and assume they're for someone else — someone more spiritually mature, more gifted, more certain. But the disciples hadn't passed a competency test. Jesus sent them anyway. You don't have to have your faith fully assembled before you're useful to someone else. The hand on a sick friend's shoulder, the meal left on a grieving neighbor's porch, the honest conversation you've been putting off — these are not small things. They are the work of people who've been sent. You don't have to feel ready. You just have to go.