Cheering on God’s people from the front row
Persevering with the help of the Holy Spirit
I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.
–Revelation 2:19 (NIV)
Over the past year our congregation has experienced some of the most challenging situations any of us had to face in a long time. We saw all of our routines interrupted. We had to reinvent how we did worship. We endured months of isolation and separation. We lost several people we knew and loved, including members of the congregation, as well as the larger Dexter community.
In the midst of all that, I have also had the privilege of seeing the people in our church demonstrate a resiliency that simply defies belief. I give thanks to God every day for the opportunity to know individuals who have dedicated their lives to making the world a little bit better. We have educators who persevered through an awful school year and helped their students thrived. Others have spent years in nursing, law enforcement, labor organizing, volunteering with the American Legion, or even developing charities that give away millions of dollars.
One of the perks of being a pastor is that I get a front row seat to all of these people’s lives. God has equipped them to do incredible things and placed them in situations where they are able to use those gifts for the good of the world around us. Whenever I have felt worn down and overwhelmed during the past few months, I have been able to draw on the inspiration of these incredible individuals. The fact they have been able to do what they do under circumstances like this has helped me to keep on keeping on.
Persevering God,
Thank you for the opportunity to witness so many incredible people doing your work. Thank you for what they do, and the lives that they are able to touch. I praise you for their perseverance and ask for the strength to do even a fraction of what they do each and every day.
Amen.
(This blog post comes from my reflections on Anthony Robinson’s Still Speaking Daily Devotional from June 2, 2021.)
