31 Days: Pathway to Perseverance - An Unexpected Turn
The events of today turned my thoughts and heart to a completely different direction. And again, I am led down another winding path with a window into the layers that lie beneath the drive to move forward and survive even amidst the unthinkable. Our country has been rocked by tragedy in the last two months. Devastating hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico have left countless thousands without basic needs and the impossible task of trying to reinvent their lives. How do you start over when you have to give all you have emotionally and physically to clean the slate so that you can even see a glimpse of what it will take to reinvent, recreate, to dream to survive.
Today, the definition of survival through trial changed. Another crowd of innocent people in Las Vegas, Nevada encountered what could not be anything less than pure evil. The facts are still coming in and if you have been anywhere near a television or social media outlet, you know as much as I do. A lot of lives were lost and unfathomable numbers of people were injured. The pictures and stories are heartbreaking. While some will mark the moment it happened by remembering the first news story that appeared, others will be able to recall the terrifying sounds of gunshots, pain and fear that were for them, first-hand experiences.
I heard a radio announcer say today that the best thing we can do in times of such tragedy, is to put one foot in front of the other and to not give up on our own lives. To just keep living. I was shocked at first. That statement seemed so self-centered in a time when we should be looking outside of ourselves and beyond our tiny speck of the world. Shouldn't we all be willing in some way to help our suffering brothers and sisters? Yes, we are all commissioned to support one another, encourage one another, ease pain and to give. But maybe for some of us we can be of the most assistance right where we are, by living our lives and doing our jobs and contributing to the local economy so that we can contribute to practical relief efforts. I believe there is more.
As people of faith, who are filled with the hope that comes from knowing Jesus Christ, we cannot forget about the power of prayer. We stretch our hands outward toward people who are out of reach and pray for them. We pray for loved ones who are far away. Now is the time to band together and pray for people we don't know but who need desperately to have the same hope that we have.
I know that it may not be theologically sound to focus on one line from a verse in the Bible and to risk blurring context. But, I have been thinking about the reminder, no, the command in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to pray without ceasing. Praying in this way takes purposefulness and dedication.
We know beyond a doubt that prayer changes circumstances, brings provision, changes lives, spans miles and crosses into eternity. So can we persevere, and create a life and practice of praying without ceasing. If we do, I believe we can reach out and touch lives who are wracked with pain, who cannot see tomorrow beyond their circumstances and are too spent to take another step themselves. Through prayer, we bring light to darkness. And evil, while leaving a mark on our memories can be defeated and replaced with hope. So, don't stop. Persevere.
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Today, the definition of survival through trial changed. Another crowd of innocent people in Las Vegas, Nevada encountered what could not be anything less than pure evil. The facts are still coming in and if you have been anywhere near a television or social media outlet, you know as much as I do. A lot of lives were lost and unfathomable numbers of people were injured. The pictures and stories are heartbreaking. While some will mark the moment it happened by remembering the first news story that appeared, others will be able to recall the terrifying sounds of gunshots, pain and fear that were for them, first-hand experiences.
I heard a radio announcer say today that the best thing we can do in times of such tragedy, is to put one foot in front of the other and to not give up on our own lives. To just keep living. I was shocked at first. That statement seemed so self-centered in a time when we should be looking outside of ourselves and beyond our tiny speck of the world. Shouldn't we all be willing in some way to help our suffering brothers and sisters? Yes, we are all commissioned to support one another, encourage one another, ease pain and to give. But maybe for some of us we can be of the most assistance right where we are, by living our lives and doing our jobs and contributing to the local economy so that we can contribute to practical relief efforts. I believe there is more.
As people of faith, who are filled with the hope that comes from knowing Jesus Christ, we cannot forget about the power of prayer. We stretch our hands outward toward people who are out of reach and pray for them. We pray for loved ones who are far away. Now is the time to band together and pray for people we don't know but who need desperately to have the same hope that we have.
I know that it may not be theologically sound to focus on one line from a verse in the Bible and to risk blurring context. But, I have been thinking about the reminder, no, the command in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to pray without ceasing. Praying in this way takes purposefulness and dedication.
We know beyond a doubt that prayer changes circumstances, brings provision, changes lives, spans miles and crosses into eternity. So can we persevere, and create a life and practice of praying without ceasing. If we do, I believe we can reach out and touch lives who are wracked with pain, who cannot see tomorrow beyond their circumstances and are too spent to take another step themselves. Through prayer, we bring light to darkness. And evil, while leaving a mark on our memories can be defeated and replaced with hope. So, don't stop. Persevere.
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