I don’t usually post on Fridays but in light of yesterday being September 11th, I read this letter I received yesterday that I just had to share. Jan Kempe is the leader of an amazing ministry call Faithful Hearts for women who “have a desire to learn more about their faith, find godly counsel and just a place to rest.” Her words and reflections about 9/11 spoke loud to me and hopefully it will to you, too. Thank you, Jan!
As I pray for us today I’m remembering that it’s 9/11, and that more than once on days that seemed normal and unmemorable, evil made itself more visible than we could imagine. Our world has had evil in it since Genesis 3, but when evil has done it’s worst, God is not defeated. Never has been. The hope that God introduced way back in Gen. 3 still wins. God’s story has been peppered with messy characters who somehow became solid and faithful from being with him, and spoke hope and goodness; people who represented God well, usually in the face of evil. God has chosen to do the hard work of fixing our broken humanity through people, like you and me. Messed up people who let God move them past their messes to become something new.
So here’s where my mind is. (Hear this) Now is your time. It’s your time. It’s your time to be one of those messy people in God’s story. Be ready. Keep learning about the character of God, if not for yourself then for your family, your friends, and for all the others whom God will bring into your space if you choose to live ready. It’s not what you’ve always thought you know that will influence your people (whomever they are), It’s not how well you can recite doctrine or what you do and don’t do. It’s all about what you are becoming. Today. What is God speaking to you TODAY? How are you experiencing God today? This day is your time. Don’t miss it.
Christlike people are essential right now. In our American comfort we may not be as prepared as we think. Success isn’t about happiness or status or things that can be destroyed. Don’t be fooled. This is a time when we each need to be consciously following Jesus on a moment by moment basis. By learning to know him more (new things all the time!) we become more like him. Practicing in the everyday gets us ready to respond in difficult situations in ways that bring hope to those we love and those we don’t even know. The mission that Jesus articulated SO CLEARLY in Matthew 28 is in our hands now: Go and make disciples, get them identified with Christ, and then teach them how to be like Jesus. Teach them by showing what he is making you.
Sweet sisters, you are valuable WAY beyond what you might think. Your character matters. It’s your time. It’s all about finding out who you have been created to be and making that a priority. Find that and you’ll find it’s exactly what you’ve always wanted to be.
Weird, but it’s what i’ve got. It’s your time.
{You can find Faithful Hearts here on Facebook.}
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