For those whose eyes are fixed on Jesus, it is not that we are not in the storm- we are right there with the rest of the world, but having your eyes fixed on Jesus means that we have a constant – the Constant, someone who is unchanging. His love, mercy and hope are the same today as they were before and always will be. We are not moved as easily with the whirling changing circumstances of this fallen world.
However, let us also be real, for we are human and have our moments – moments of doubt, fear, lapses in our ability to praise and thank Him through it all. We have those moments when we cannot recognize the blessing of it all. We have those moments of worry- about finances, prices and availability of food. We have those moments of having to learn some new way to do something which we were just beginning to master. It is important to remember we are human; we will have moments. Accept them; process them; reject them, if necessary, and then, turn back to the Constant!
At times, you will be called to be the reminder for others to turn to the Constant. You will be called to be the one to encourage, to remind others of His hope, love and mercy. I challenge you today to reach out and share what good you have experienced. I challenge you to give God the glory due to Him for that goodness! Teach those who are losing hope or having their moment how to praise and thank Him. We have such an impact on others, and we may never know quite how much or even who, but the Body of Christ, His Church, is real!
So I will end with two huge praise reports, and I am begging others to share theirs. It is essential to share that God is still working in today’s world!
My first praise report is that of a hug. A simple unasked for hug from a teen who struggles with showing affection to her dad. A few years ago, we found out our income had been cut in half. We are so grateful and were not alone in this financial situation. We told our three older kids immediately because it was their lives who would be most impacted. We gave them time to process what that might mean to each of them. Then, out of the blue … dad received a great big hug from our teen daughter. She was able to look past how this affected her and see how this was a burden to her dad. Y’all … this was a miracle, and anyone who has or knows a teenager can testify to that!
My second praise report is how the Holy Spirit showed up in a huge way while talking to my eleven year old who has tendencies to fixate on certain things and struggles with anxiety. The scripture passage where Jesus said, “do not worry about what you will say; I will give you the words when you need them”(paraphrasing here) became very real to me. My sweet girl was commenting on how quickly a virus has spread throughout the whole world. After a quick look to Heaven for help, I was able to respond in a way that gave God glory and made it very real how we are all connected. I simply told her, “Don’t you think that is PROOF that we truly are the Body Of Christ. The Church always teaches us that even our smallest most secret sin hurts the whole Church because we are connected. We’ve also been taught that our holiness affects the Body of Christ as well. So, this worldwide spread is PROOF that this is true. If a virus can spread that quickly throughout the whole world, so can our holiness! We are ONE BODY UNITED IN CHRIST!” She responded so well to that and now has a much clearer understanding of just how universal our faith is, and just how real the Body of Christ is.
Go out and spread your holiness! Share your praise reports now more than ever! I am sure I will have another moment of weakness soon and will need it!
Author: Monica Hebert
Photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash
