Aren’t grandchildren wonderful? I often marvel at how my grandchildren challenge me in ways that I suppose my children might have if I had taken the same kind of time to really listen to them as I do my grandchildren.
Not long ago, as we were going somewhere in the car, our youngest granddaughter asked me, “Mimi, why do you go to church all the time?” I offered an answer to her something like, “Well, I want to praise God for all that He has done for me.” But since that day, I have often asked myself that same question, “Why do I go to church all the time?”
Recently, answers to that question have emerged more than once from the time spent in worship, but one particular Sunday an answer popped out of the sermon. I go to church to find the strength to continue with the challenges that life brings. In the sermon that day, the preacher reminded us that our individual battles belong to God and that He is already victorious over all that we face or will face in this life. He also said something that really resonated with me. “Satan cannot stand in the face of repentance.” As I meditate on that concept, I realize that as I truly repent and turn from the habits and practices of the flesh that plague me, I allow the Spirit of God to fill me and grant me strength to live in the full power of that life-giving Spirit that produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, gentleness, etc. If I had not gone to church today, I would have missed that message and the blessing that it will be to me as I live through the coming week.
But there’s more. Couldn’t God have given me this insight in other ways—through family or private meditation or simply by zapping me with the message as I was navigating grocery store aisles? Of course, I could have gotten the message any of those ways. However, there would still be something missing, and that’s what I finally came to grips with this morning. I have always thought of myself as a competent, stable person with the strength to encounter any difficulty head-on and not be defeated. Yet when I get to the bottom of what gives me this strength, it is not only the power of the Spirit living in me but the combination of that power with the association and support of my community of faith that helps me face temptation with courage and the strength to stand against the “darts” that Satan throws at me. I don’t have to be an army of one fighting my battles; I have the power of the army of God, including my community of faith, standing behind me. Thanks be to God for this great blessing!
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