M said some things...
Our friend "M" said some things Sunday we should chew on for a little while. Here are a few that grabbed my attention and captured my imagination.
She closed her remarks with these challenges.
- "Imagine living in Marion and the closest church was in Mobile."
- We take the blessing of church fellowship for granted. How much more would we value it if we had to drive 3-4 hours just to worship with other believers? Dietrich Bonhoeffer affirmed this saying,
- "The physical presence of other Christians is a source of incomparable joy and strength to the believer...It is easily forgotten that the fellowship of Christian brethren is a gift of grace, a gift of the Kingdom of God that any day may be taken from us, that the time that still separates us from utter loneliness may be brief indeed. Therefore, let him who until now has had the privilege of living a common Christian life with other Christians praise God's grace from the bottom of his heart. Let him thank God on his knees and declare: It is grace, nothing but grace, that we are allowed to live in commuity with Christian brethren." Life Together
- "Felt needs lead to open doors." (As she shared about the physical needs of a lady and her daughters.)
- We are surrounded by individual facing challenges which we can help to meet. Each of those moments are opportunities to be a gospel bearing presence in the lives of those with whom we engage. Do not underestimate the power of entering into other's challenges with them. We have seen this lived out in real time as our Disaster Relief team has responded both locally and in distant places. Showing up to help in a moment of need creates openness to the gospel that may have not been present before.
- Begin taking note of the opportunities around you and prayerfully watch for whether or not God may be at work in those situations to provide you an opportuinity to speak.
- "God's timing is not our timing." (As she shared about William Carey translating the Scriptures into this people's language in 1870 and there are just now children being raised in Christian homes.)
- Our task is to faithfully plant the seeds of the gospel in the confidence God will bless faithfulness. We always pray to see the fruit of our labors, but we leave the result in the hands of God. It may be that the result of the faithful ways we follow God in the day-to-day of our lives will only be seen long after we are asleep in Jesus. The urgency to live with clarity about God's calling is sharpened by this realization. Let us not become weary in doing good!
- Seek intimacy with God. It is not what we might do for God that is on our Heavenly Father's mind, but how closely are we walking with Him each day.
- Let us make the scope of our prayers reflect the scope of God's heart. As Paul prays in Epehsians 3:20 he reminds us God is "able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine." Are our prayers too small? Quite likely!
Let us faithfully hold the rope in prayer for our friend "M" with the sure confidence that our Heavenly Father has invited us into His good plans through her faithful life.
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