To everything there is a season, friends. I believe God is allowing the church to grow in strength, hope, and meaning. I’ve had to ask myself:
Am I willing to grow in resilience through community?
Am I ready to push myself, be bold, risk security?
Am I willing to foster hope in the world?
With deep conviction, I want to say that I am. At least I hope I am, and maybe that’s a start. I’m ready to wake up. I’m ready for my courage to return. I don’t want to be lulled back to sleep. I’m ready to rise from the slumber of fear, shame, and anxiety. I’m also ready to rise from the slumber of success, affluence, and boredom. I’m ready to be smaller but stronger. I’m ready for my kids (and their kids, once they have kids) to be drawn to the heart of God. I’m ready to see God’s love poured out on the world in fresh ways through his resilient community—the church. This will be a marathon, not a sprint, friends. We’re going to need some resilience.
Here’s the point: Adversity awakens. It awakens us from our comfort and numbing. It awakens us to what we are capable of. It awakens us to what’s worth fighting for. It awakens us to what it means to follow Christ.
As a church, we’ve been through dark days. We’ll go through dark days again. With all the unique challenges our world is experiencing, our cultural moment is unlike anything past generations have experienced. While I pray for more peace, for more health and unity, I know there are no guarantees. In fact, trend lines point to more complicated and less comfortable times, seasons that will require true resilience.
No matter what our world throws at us, no matter how dark or desperate the cultural landscape, we can move into it with purpose, meaning, and resilience. With God’s help, adversity is meant to make us stronger. Through that Spirit-born strength, we become a living model of Christ’s power to the world around us.
Maybe you’ve been following Jesus for a while and you need to be reminded of this power that is available to you. After a few years of living in the comforts of Franklin, Tennessee, I know I did. Through adversity, I was reminded that I was in a battle and I was made to overcome. I was reminded that I was created to be a messenger of the kingdom of God, which will come on earth as it is in heaven. I was reminded that I am more than a conqueror through Christ. Ultimately, I was reminded that the trials of earth not only are passing but also will lead us into greater resilience if we let them.
Resilience is indicative of the Christian life.
Rebekah Lyons joins James and Betty this Tuesday and Wednesday on LIFE TODAY. Excerpted from Building A Resilient Life by Rebekah Lyons. Copyright ©2023 by Rebekah Lyons. Published by Zondervan Books. Used by permission.
