John 5:17 " Jesus said to them, 'My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.'"
There are many advantages of living within the context of a community of believers. You develop good and true friends. You have fun at football games and at the lake and at each other's homes. You pray together when things are hard and you rejoice together when things are good. But one of the most powerful things about community life is watching the Lord work in the lives of those around you. Watching the Lord lead your friends, seeing how He answers prayer, and having a front-row seat to watch His plan unfold in their lives is a really powerful way to know His faithfulness.
This past weekend, I was gifted with some time to spend with my dear friend Rendi. We didn't really set out to, but we ended up spending a lot of time recounting her story and how her story has intersected with my story and how they might even intersect in the future. Having been in close relationship with my friends Rendi and Josh and little curly cotton-topped almost-four-year-old Sanders since well before Sanders was born, I've learned their story really well. Not only have I learned it, but Jack and I have been privileged to be a part of it, to pray with them and to rejoice with them and serve God with them. When I think about it and when I think about how the Lord has led my friends so well in small and big ways, I can't help but breath praise to the One who is working- all the time- in and through those who say yes to Him.
He's always working.
He was working at the beginning of time. He was working before Abram had Isaac. He was working before David was crowned King of Israel. He was working before He came to be born in humility in Bethlehem. He was working on the Cross. He was working when He ascended to Heaven. He is working now. He is working in the small places that seem so insignificant. He is working in the grand and the overwhelming. He is working. He will be working. He never gets tired, He never sleeps, He never gives up. He will accomplish all He promises.
There are a lot of questions about what the future holds- for me, for my friends, and for you, but as we continue in the grace He gives us day by day, we can rest in the knowledge that our Savior is working.
Always working.
It's trite but true. Hindsight is 20/20. It's hard sometimes to be in the midst of life's uncertainties and to see what the Lord might be doing. But it's really cool to be able to tell our stories together and have those "Remember when?" moments. To testify again and again and to recount the Lord's provision and His strong and supremely good leadership together.
The Lord is always at work in the world and in our lives, but sometimes it may not seem like it. In the middle of our messes or our trouble or our apathy, we can't see it. We're so blind, so dull. But the good thing is that He gives us friends who come alongside us and help us remember.
Faith journeys are hard on your own. It's much better to have each other so that we can remind each other to remember to look back at what He's done, to look around at what He's doing, and to look forward to what He said He's going to do.
I'm so thankful that His plan includes an assembly of believers and not just us trying to make it on our own.
I'm so thankful that that's just one of the ways He works.
This past weekend, I was gifted with some time to spend with my dear friend Rendi. We didn't really set out to, but we ended up spending a lot of time recounting her story and how her story has intersected with my story and how they might even intersect in the future. Having been in close relationship with my friends Rendi and Josh and little curly cotton-topped almost-four-year-old Sanders since well before Sanders was born, I've learned their story really well. Not only have I learned it, but Jack and I have been privileged to be a part of it, to pray with them and to rejoice with them and serve God with them. When I think about it and when I think about how the Lord has led my friends so well in small and big ways, I can't help but breath praise to the One who is working- all the time- in and through those who say yes to Him.
He's always working.
He was working at the beginning of time. He was working before Abram had Isaac. He was working before David was crowned King of Israel. He was working before He came to be born in humility in Bethlehem. He was working on the Cross. He was working when He ascended to Heaven. He is working now. He is working in the small places that seem so insignificant. He is working in the grand and the overwhelming. He is working. He will be working. He never gets tired, He never sleeps, He never gives up. He will accomplish all He promises.
There are a lot of questions about what the future holds- for me, for my friends, and for you, but as we continue in the grace He gives us day by day, we can rest in the knowledge that our Savior is working.
Always working.
It's trite but true. Hindsight is 20/20. It's hard sometimes to be in the midst of life's uncertainties and to see what the Lord might be doing. But it's really cool to be able to tell our stories together and have those "Remember when?" moments. To testify again and again and to recount the Lord's provision and His strong and supremely good leadership together.
Faith journeys are hard on your own. It's much better to have each other so that we can remind each other to remember to look back at what He's done, to look around at what He's doing, and to look forward to what He said He's going to do.
I'm so thankful that His plan includes an assembly of believers and not just us trying to make it on our own.
I'm so thankful that that's just one of the ways He works.
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