It’s 4:25 AM
By: Missionary Team
It’s 4:25 AM. Still dark, but not too cold, honestly the heat in the car is keeping us toasty. The light rain is hitting the top of the car. We woke up around 3:50 AM and blindly grabbed our things from the family in North Carolina we were staying at and left for Kansas. We’re on our way to Benedictine College where we had represented Hard as Nails. It’s funny, when we left Syracuse, NY, where the ministry is based, and where us missionaries live, they told us that we would be gone for thirty days. But after thirty days in Baltimore MD, we headed straight for Charlotte, NC, and now we are heading to Kansas. Life is uncertain.
As I rode in the passenger seat and looked out onto the road that is brightened by the headlights, my mind came to the realization that if anyone were to be in a car at 4:25 in the morning with rain coming down then it could almost be depressing. If I was on my way to a nine to five job, then I would struggle not to be depressed about it. Honestly, Life is depressing when it seems purposeless.
I used to become depressed going to work all the time. I knew it was important, and that it had a purpose, but I wasn’t convicted. Do you see your job as soul-saving, as a ministry, as redemptive suffering, and as an encounter with Christ? Is that how you see each day? At Hard as Nails we provide events that give an encounter with Christ, and we say that every day is an event. The people you meet, or even the same people you work with each day, are in need of an encounter. They are in need of an encounter with Jesus Christ. And who lives inside of you? Jesus Christ. People need to encounter Christ each day, and that means they need you, they need your presence in their lives.
No matter what your responsibilities in life are, no matter how uncomfortable or how unstable you are right now, you can be joyful, and you can be excited about life. I’ve met people who live on the streets in the cold winters, and they are happier than some of the richest, most comfortable people I meet. They don’t take themselves too seriously. Also, they don’t try to control what can’t be controlled. And if they surrender to the Fathers will, then they’re life can be exciting. Once we trust that God will provide, and that it is okay if we lose a job, house, or even a loved one, because God IS in control, then the indecisiveness of life becomes exciting not stressful.
Today, God has given you another day to live. This day wasn’t guaranteed, it’s a gift freely given by God. I challenge you to surrender it to God today. Tell Him to do what He wants to do with you. Tell Him, “I know that You love me more than I love myself”. Surrender every encounter you have with others today. And trust that He will help you love those that you struggle to love, or even hate right now. As Fr. Larry Richards, a priest, and speaker, says, “Ask God to love this person through you.” You have too many people you can bring closer to God than believe that your life has no purpose. You won’t bring someone to God in one day, it will take months or even years. But enjoy it, and take one day at a time. Surrender your hopes, dreams, comfort, suffering, and pain to God's plan. God’s got you. He hasn’t forgotten you.
What are you doing today? What will the Father put in your life today? I guess you’ll see.
