A Great Sounding Story

While he shows great skill and heart during these encounters, he is often left feeling distraught and bereft at the situation.

2 Thessalonians 1:1-12

Reference: v.4 Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. (TNIV Bible)

Explore: A story often comes across more glamorous than reality. In the Harry Potter series, Harry has to fight off many enemies.  While he shows great skill and heart during these encounters, he is often left feeling distraught and bereft at the situation.  When people re-tell the ordeal, the grandeur of the tale never seems to sit right with Harry, as he remembers the pain and anguish that came with the victory.

Application: This is often the case in our lives too.  My husband and I often find that people put us on a pedestal because we are foster carers, and yet the routine of everyday and the trials we face parenting, seem to take the shine off the glamorised story. It’s true in our faith too.  There are times in our discipleship journey when it seems like we’re just going through the motions.  We try to prioritize time with God and to discern his path for us, but when people share their testimonies, they seem to have a more glamorized faith than us.  God, however, connects with us all in different ways – a word that speaks directly to us, a worship song that brings us healing, or a prayer that is finally answered.  These divine experiences are mixed in with our everyday.  They may not seem worthy to re-tell at the time, as our everyday life surrounds them, but they are important in our faith, and as good an encounter to hold onto as any.

Prayer: Lord, it’s great that our faith is part of our everyday. We pray that we will notice the divine moments in everyday as we live to serve you. Amen.

What divine moment can you recall from your life?

2 Thessalonians, divine, story