Church Goes Out 2

Romans 12:11

Several weeks ago my mother experienced a hernia which caused intestinal blockage, the result of which was intense pain. Elderly and confused, she was struggling with her situation and when she was taken to the hospital we had no idea a simple surgery could straighten things out.

My sister and I spent a stress-filled night in the hospital sitting up all night long at her bedside until we could meet with a doctor in the morning. It is times like that when we realize that our love for another person has no set amount of time, no limit in hours.

How long do you care for a loved one? The love continues forever.

Such is the case with our faith and our approach to loving God. How long do we have a fervor for God’s kingdom and the work of God’s love? It is never-ending.

What does Paul say about it in his letter to the Romans?

We can grow tired in our daily labors. We can grow weary with our jobs. Taking care of our homes can be a burden. Planning meals can become tedious, and we may reach that point when we simply want a break from it all.

The same can be felt in our spiritual walk. The challenges of being a Christian may seem to be too much for us. We may feel that there is only so much we can do to serve the Lord.

And those who commit to doing work for God can grow frustrated and tired with the lack of results – or at least tangible, visible results – of serving God. We can often feel that we have done all we can and there is nothing left to be done.

Still others commit to a certain amount of time. They serve the church or do ministry for a set number of years and then step back. It’s time for others to take on the work.

But Paul encourages all believers to hold on to that fervor and zeal in serving God. We need to spur ourselves on continually, allowing God’s love and Holy Spirit to charge us up and move us forward.

There is no end to the love we should have for the people of God. Our ministry is a ministry of a lifetime. We should live out the love and mercy of God all the time and in places.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How do you keep your spiritual fervor?

Patient in Faith 3

Romans 12:11-12

In college I contracted mononucleosis, a debilitating illness that weakens the body so much that simply walking across a room can exhaust you. The remedy was to take medications, but also to rest. This was difficult to do because after several hours of lying in bed I felt that I had regained my strength. But when I tried to do anything I was worn out after the smallest activity.

I quickly learned that I had to be patient in my affliction. The best thing to do was to be sick, allowing my body to work through the illness until I improved.

In his letter to the church in Rome Paul has advice on faith. What are we to keep? What should be our attitude? What should we do?

It can be so difficult to maintain our faith sometimes. We are faced with temptations and challenges in life, and we may join in with the disciples who asked Jesus to increase their faith (Luke 17:5). But faith is not always something that comes in full force and in an instant.

We must learn to be patient in our faith. That patience may involve waiting through the difficult situations trusting that God will use those times to build us up. But being patient in our faith does not mean we sit by idly and watch.

Patience in faith requires attentiveness on our part and an investment of our hearts, souls and minds.

As we wait to be stronger in our faith we must work to build up that faith. We are called to have zeal – passion, eagerness – in our spiritual attitude. While we wait we must have joy in anticipation that God will be working with us and through us, and that God will resolve the issues we face.

The best way to achieve this is to be faithful in our prayers. We can pray for stronger faith. We can pray for the patience we need to wait for that time when God will finally call on us to act. We can pray to grow nearer to the Lord, to have our spirits draw closer to the Holy Spirit that we might be more Christ-like in our thoughts and actions.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How can you have zeal for God’s kingdom? How can you still have spiritual fervor even if this is a time of waiting?