Today, I write from Antigua, Guatemala. I am part of an organization that oversees people who have a call to go to other parts of the world with the good news about Jesus Christ; to bring that message in love, often with sacrifice, to a very needy world.
There are always new people desiring to join the organization. We meet together to encourage and strengthen them in their calling and tasks. The more experienced members share from their wealth of experience and the new members bring their vitality, along with their eagerness to learn, to this grand adventure that God is calling them to.
Last night as I lay on my bed, I felt such gratitude to the Lord. This year, more than I have noticed before, a group of young people are among us. They are already well on their way to making their contributions to the world. This provides me with much encouragement. It shows me that God is faithful, to each generation, to each country, to each individual. He works without fatigue, beyond borders, and beyond what we can imagine.
The apostle Paul expresses his own feelings regarding God’s work being done throughout the world. He shouts out his gratitude to God, on hearing the reports of their faith. He commends the love they share, and their strength of purpose. He speaks about God’s word and its fruitfulness, how it gets bigger, rather than diminishing over time. He assures them of his prayers; that God will give them wisdom and that they will know his will. He prays that they will gain an understanding of God’s workings so that they, in turn, can do his works He intercedes on their behalf that they will live lives worthy of the Father, making him proud. He further prays that they will have the strength to be participants in all the wonderful things that God has planned, an enduring, joy-filled strength.
These prayers, I too, offer on behalf of all who go out in his name.
Lord keep us ever mindful to pray.
