My husband is a die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan. He is so enthused about this team that anytime he sees someone else, stranger included, wearing Cowboys apparel he has to have a conversation with them about the team’s status. Actually, to my husband there is no such thing as a stranger in the Cowboy “nation”. And in the body of Christ or Christ’s “nation” there should be no such thing as a stranger either.
Ephesians 2:11-13 says this…
11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
It is always a blessing to me when I find someone outside of my normal circle of family and friends who loves God and is not ashamed to talk about Him. I found one such person on my job a few weeks ago. I was in my office one morning when this particular co-worker came by to clean my room. I knew that he was a Christian, but I didn’t know the magnitude of his relationship with Christ until he began to share his love for God’s Word and his desire to please God and be in His will. I too shared some things with him that I had recently studied in the Bible, and in this brief conversation I was encouraged. I was encouraged to know that there was another person in the building with a genuine connection to the Father that we both share. I was encouraged to know that if needed, I had a brother in Christ who could pray for me and give me an uplifting word.
And that’s how it should be. We should be willing to share the good things that Christ has done in our lives to continue building one another up. Far too many Christians tear their brothers and sisters down with lies, jealousy, backbiting, and other ungodly behaviors. Those things should not be named among us. Instead we should allow the peace, love, and joy of the Lord to radiate between us. Believe it or not, how we treat interact with one another, whether positively or negatively, says much about our condition as a family and can impact others’ decision to become a part of it. If we don’t encourage one another who will? If we don’t boast about the Good News of Christ, who will? If we don’t band together in favor of our Savior, who will? So let the members of Christ’s nation be the beacon of light that we are supposed to be so that we can compel those who remain strangers of the covenant of promise to join our team.
When I heard Shelby Swink’s story about being dumped by her boyfriend of three years only five days before they were scheduled to be married, I couldn’t help but think about the fact that sometimes unanswered prayers are a blessing in disguise. God has a funny way of working things out in our favor even when we can’t or refuse to see how it’s working in our favor at the time. That’s why it’s so important to seek His heart for us and not just His hand. When we spend time learning of Him, we learn His will for our lives and can begin to pray according to that will, not our own. While I’m sure there were warning signs prior to her boyfriend’s admission that he did not love her, for some reason she was unable to see them or either chose to ignore them. Nevertheless, I admire the way that Shelby was able to “embrace the journey that is [her] life and thrive on the fuels of opposition” as one of my fellow authors, Sabrina Memminger, puts it. (www.SabrinaLMemminger.com) Instead of remaining bitter about it, she has chosen to see the blessing in it. Instead of wallowing in complaints, she is thankful that her fiance told her before the wedding rather than waiting two years and two kids down the road. Now that is true. Although his timing was a bit delayed and majorly inconvenient, it was right on time. I don’t know if I would have been so quick to bounce back from the embarrassment and heartache and I definitely know I would think twice about ruining an expensive wedding gown. But hey, if she likes it I love it.
