I encountered two conversations this week that brought me a reminder of the work God is doing in my life, and in the lives of the people around me. God often moves in subtle ways, and sometimes He moves at such a slow pace that it can take years to see or feel the impact.
I’ve talked with a number of Christians who have something in common with me when we talk about our journey with God … for us, it seems life is rather ordinary. I don’t have a dramatic testimony of how God saved me, and I don’t have amazing stories of miracles and flashy spiritual events throughout my life. At times, I’ve even felt like my story was boring and wasn’t worth sharing, simply because my faith journey has been marked by consistency and relative peace. It certainly hasn’t all been easy - there have been times of joy and times of sorrow for sure, but through all of it, God has remained faithful, and my relationship with Him has been the top priority of my life.
I was sitting with a group of friends this week, and one of them shared how my life and others around our church had impacted them. In one of the darkest moments of this person’s life, she ended up at Beaverton Foursquare Church, and the people who made the greatest impact on her were those who were consistently walking with God over time. My friend told me she was watching the way people worshiped God, spoke to each other, and lived week to week with consistent joyfulness. She wasn’t looking for people with an amazing spiritual highlight reel … she was looking for people whose life and faith were real.
I am reminded of verses like Zechariah 4:10, which says, “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin”, or Jesus’s words in Luke 16:10 - “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.”
Every once in awhile, God does something big and public for all to see. But more frequently, He is working in small ways, quite possibly ways we aren’t even aware of. Our primary motivation for a life of faith is always to become more like Jesus, and we certainly don’t conform our words and actions to look like godliness for show. However, in the process of being transformed into a disciple of Jesus, it encourages me to think God might be using my life to nudge others closer to Him as well.
Brent
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