We can be church goers and not be church doers. If you are a church doer, then you have found the key to your calling in Christ Jesus our Lord. Being a christian is loads more then just going to church on the weekend. It’s about being the hands and feet of Jesus to all people, making disciples of nations or family members or co-workers or strangers. Now, in order to DO church you have to have your act together and be a perfect little flawless christian soldier, right? Nope, you just have to be the YOU God created you to be. Thats it, just YOU, plus a little willingness to be available to hear the gentle nudges of God to Love others.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Here’s how it played out:
I went to a lovely church service Wednesday night. We had wonderful worship and the message was spot on about our lack of contentment in this world and God echoed in our hearts the need to find our contentment in HIM alone. All else shatters or fades away and basically, we will leave everything behind when we leave this life. True contentment comes by putting all your eggs in God’s basket!
I was a church goer that night, content just going to church. Intent on just receiving some encouragement and peace.
Then at the last minute, on my way out of the building, I bump into a woman I haven’t seen or heard from in about 2 years. She had disappeared off my radar and when I saw her, my first response was…HEY its you, you’re still alive, wow, I had forgotten about you! She saw me and said ‘Hey its you, oh my gosh, now I know the reason we are here tonight’.
She had not been to our church in well over a year and just happened to be there last night with her friend from out of state. She introduced me to this lady and said ‘When I saw you I knew that you were the one we were supposed to see, this is my friend(she made introductions and then she said) will you just do what you do and help her. She is going through a divorce and I know you had a rough time with it and well, I’m going to get my kids so just do whatever it is you do….”
HA! So, I did church. I shared my compassion for this woman, I briefly shared with her my empathy for her situation, I gave her a picture of the brokenness I endured and then I shared with her comfort. We prayed together, I declared healing over her heart in Jesus name and we asked for restoration and redemption.
She, like myself, believed she had lost so much and regretted so much and was now a mess at almost 40 and her hope was gone. Out of my pain, out of my brokenness, out of the suffering, I could share the comfort that was given me by Jesus and out of my courage to persevere and my learning that our hope is found in Christ alone, she was encouraged.
Imagine her face when I shared with her the restoration God was doing in my family now. How HE indeed DOES work all things tougher for good! Imagine her and my long lost friends surprise when they saw the sparkling stones on my finger and heard my lovely story and realized God does bring beauty from ashes. Hope is not lost. Sorrow is real, but joy comes in the morning:)
Let’s DO church!
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