Cast Your Bread Upon the Waters
Given that Pastor Andrew is away in Israel, I have been afforded the opportunity of writing today’s letter. I would like to take this opportunity to tell you a bit about myself and some things I have been reflecting on recently.
My name is Zander Hartsuff. I’m going to be a senior at Calvin University this year. In my time at Calvin, I am majoring in Data Science, running on the cross country and track teams, and exploring various other interests such as writing and ministry. I am from a small town called Chelsea, Michigan which is near Ann Arbor. My absolute favorite thing to do is sit down with another person and discuss the important things in life with them. I also love writing fantasy and am currently working on my first book!
A Bible verse that has been on my mind recently is Ecclesiastes 11:1, “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.” As I look over my life so far it feels like I am constantly sowing but never reaping. I keep casting my bread upon the waters, but it floats off into the unknown, and I keep waiting to find it again. In my waiting it can get very discouraging and feel hopeless at times. When it feels like things just went from bad to worse, I sometimes find myself believing that the bread will never return to me. But in these times I hold fast to this verse and trust that God will provide. And he always does.
This verse has hit me particularly close as a distance runner. Over the past three years I haven’t really gotten any faster and have simply been training continuously without reaping any of the rewards. This is due to several things—mostly injuries, but what I have learned through that experience is that my entire idea of success was built upon how the world defines success and not how God defines it. I now know that it ultimately doesn’t matter how fast I am, only that I use the gifts God has given me and give him all the glory.
A word of advice from Ray Bradbury: “The things that you do should be things that you love, and the things that you love should be things that you do.”
Photo by Jan-Willem on Unsplash