brokenredeemed

It’s been quite an interesting month. The weather in Virginia’s been all over the place! We had like 8-10 inches of snow one week, followed by 60° weather and high winds that knocked out the internet, electricity, and trees in our neighborhood. We’ve also had some bouts of sickness, hitting my husband the hardest (for about a week), the kids each with 24-hour bugs, and myself with a lingering cold. But we keep on trucking!

I’ve still been reading “Understanding Spiritual Gifts” by Sam Storms, but also added “The Hiding Place” by Corrie ten Boom. As I’ve been studying the second half of Acts and reading “The Hiding Place,” I’ve really been thinking about our walk with Christ in terms of running a marathon. The first half of Acts was quick paced, like a sprint, almost, but the missionary journeys of Paul, so far, have spanned 12 long years. Paul stayed months in some places, years in others, and even revisted places where churches were established to encourage the new believers. Paul moved as the Holy Spirit prompted him, avoiding some cities and going to new places as God directed.

A few months ago, I had a vision of being led by God, the way a blind person is led through unfamiliar territory, arm-in-arm with the Father; not walking ahead, or behind, but in step with the Father. This is where I want to be, and I believe that’s where Paul desired to be continually. Even when the Holy Spirit revealed to Paul what he’d face as he returned to Jerusalem–beatings and bondage–his faith was unwavering. As I read “The Hiding Place,” like Paul, Corrie ten Boom says she was given a vision at the start of Germany’s invasion of Holland. While praying, she saw in her mind’s eye, she and her family being taken from their home. Yet, it didn’t prevent her from walking in the calling God placed on her life, to protect and lead to safety, as many Jews as she could during WWII.

Back to what I was saying about our walk being a marathon rather than a sprint to the finish line. Paul’s missionary trips weren’t quick trips to preach to as many as he could and then move on. Travel was slow-going, and Paul spoke in synagogues, marketplaces, halls known for great philosophical debate, in homes over meals, in prison cells, and even before public leaders upon his multiple arrests. He checked in on churches he helped establish, discipled, and wrote letters of encouragement when he could no longer visit in person. Corrie and her family shared the Gospel with all who entered their home, neighbors, those they shared prison cells with, those they suffered alongside in a German concentration camp, and even some of their captors, over years. I say we run a marathon because marathons require endurance through all kinds of terrain and weather: flat roads, hills, valleys, rain, cold, heat…

How many of us will keep running when life gets beyond what we can bear, and we have to rely on the strength of our Lord and Savior to push through? Can we find things to be grateful for when it feels all is lost? Can we preach and praise even when staring death in the face? How about when life feels easy and everything seems to be going according to plan, but God asks more from us? I think this is more of what we face in the American Church.

How do we share the love of Christ in our homes, neighborhoods, communities, cities, nation, and so forth, every day? How can we be Christ on the road? On that PTA board? In our workplaces? While playing pickleball? But also, when can we step outside our comfort zones and take that mission trip? Be a part of that evangelism team, or teach that Bible study? We’re running a marathon that doesn’t end until our lives do. So how are we sharing Christ not only in the minute details of our lives but also in bigger ways? These are questions I’ve been asking myself.

Everywhere the Gospel went, riots broke out, people were stoned, beaten, arrested, or lives were threatened. It’s the nature of the Gospel. Yet nothing stopped Paul. Nothing stopped the ten Booms. Nothing stopped Priscilla and Aquila, when the Roman Emperor Claudius expelled them (Jews) from Rome in A.D. 49 because of rioting (perhaps over the proclamation of Jesus as Messiah), and they ended up teaching in Corinth alongside Paul (Acts 18). What’s stopping us? Our own fears? Fear of overcommitment? Fear of man? Fear of our own inadequacy? First off, God equips and protects us for His purposes. Just as he protected, equipped, and placed Paul exactly where He needed Him or Corrieten Boom. Secondly, we may not be able to do all that we desire in every season, but every season is different. There’s always something God’s calling us to do right where we are, even if it seems small or insignificant. Lastly, we should always be faithful in the little things because often, they’re preparing us for bigger things.

Let it be that at the end of our lives we can speak the words of Paul when he told Timothy (2 Timothy 4:7), “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race and been faithful.”

Truth, love, and grace,

Angelica