Dear Friends
God doesn’t hide the fact that there will be struggles; there will be difficulties in being a Christian. That at times shining God’s light in the world is not glamorous or easy. Maybe you have felt that you haven’t contributed much. Perhaps you feel like an old worn out couch or broken down car when it comes to being a Christian that no one is interested in anymore. Maybe family members seem to be like rock solid brick walls. You have tried being a faithful witness and have almost given up because no one seems to take notice. You feel what is the point?
Well part of this feeling is that many of us at times feel that life should be one constant improvement. Our view of life is that things should keep going up and up. And when it doesn’t it is easy to become disillusioned, to give up. To stop contributing, and to simply go through the motions. But if we examine God’s approach to life. Life is one of constant up and downs.
If we were to graph the life of most people it would be a graph highlighting highs and lows, and ups and downs. In fact for many people life is like a five set tennis match. Tennis matches rarely go to five sets, without both players experiencing some extreme highs and some extreme lows.
It is the same for our life, our Christian life and our church life both as individuals and as a community. One of the things that is helpful for us is to take a long term view of life, rather than a short term view. Because being a disciple of Jesus involves somewhat of a different attitude than being a consumer of Jesus. Many people are happy to choose some things about Jesus, however they are not always happy about being involved what it means to be a disciple. That is something for each of us to think about. There is a difference between being a disciple of Jesus or a consumer. A disciple sticks with Jesus regardless of whether things are going well or not. So let’s look at what it means to be a servant of God, a disciple of God.
One of the reassuring things about God is that even though at times he is probably disappointed with me or you God’s disappointment does not result in him withdrawing His love for us. And we know that despite Jesus being rejected, he persevered with His mission to save you and me. Despite Jesus being let down by even his closest disciples he entrusted them with carrying on His mission. And as we encounter difficulties as God’s servants remember God is faithful to us. God continues to be with you and me. God is always welcoming us, so he can constantly forgive us and prepare us for the future. So as we live our lives as God’s disciples, remember God is doing something amazing. Not only do we bring God’s love and restoration to others But God is also restoring us, God is changing us, God is refining us.
To God be the Glory!
Solomzi