There are a few key questions that are really at the core of
our walk with Jesus. Now I write this knowing full well that I am no theologian
– knowing that this is in no way an exhaustive list. These are questions that I have
noticed come up when we’re living missionally, sometimes at big watershed
moments, where things are clearly and tangibly wrong, and other times when we
are physically exhausted. There often comes a time when we need to remind
ourselves of the choices we have made, the promises and standards we have
signed up for, and our need to commit to those ever further every day. We
remind ourselves of these, not to carry on with a pile of works like a
spiritual pack mule somehow trying to earn our own salvation, but because our commitments
remind us of the one we have chosen to serve, our beloved Jesus, because He first
loved us.
Will you love when it
is hard? Will you watch something that you have invested, loved and poured
into be torn apart by vultures, or literally burn and go up in smokes – but push
on in love and obedience to God’s call; knowing that our agony and empathy is nothing compared to that of our Creators? Will you continue to love and care for
people and places when it literally tears you up from the inside out? Will you find rest in
God’s sovereignty? Will you love the Lord your God with all your heart, all
your mind, and lean not on your own understanding?
I remain confident with every fiber of my
being, and molecule of my heart, that neither death nor life, neither angels
nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height
nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate me from
the love of God that is Jesus Christ my Lord. (Romans 8:38-39). I recognize that my sufferings are small, and they are a privilege, compared to the weight of the cross carried by my
King.
