Friday July 31, 2020

Philippians 3:4-6

4 If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

In this scripture, Paul is telling his story. He was, as he says, blameless under the law. But that was his story before he met Jesus, the Christ. That encounter changed forever his story. As the hymn says, and as Paul says, “This is my story.” His story continued through imprisonment, trials, beatings and, literally, running for his life. In fact, much of what we know about Paul was written from a prison cell.

Like Paul, we all have a story. Often it is a two part story, part one before Jesus and part 2 after our encounter with Christ. I wonder if we now are marking our narrative or story, before or after COVID 19? Our COVID 19 story is filled with bad news, fear and uncertainty. However, one more way to view this time is opportunity.

We can see this time as that of despair or wasted, or we can view this time as an opportunity to see God working in our midst. I pray we choose the latter, for God is always up to something! As it says in the Tale of Two Cities by Dickens, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….” We can frame our story as survival or opportunity.

Some have already found their opportunity such as time with family, friends, home and yard work. If we are to find the opportunity, we must look where God is at work. Where might we join God at work? Now that we have more time and less distractions, what can we do?

To see opportunity, pray. Look around at where others are actively investing themselves at this time. . If you’re struggling for ideas, print the Serving Bingo card on our mission web page. This is the perfect time to invest ourselves in others and celebrate God using this time to discover the next opportunity out there for us. Are we merely surviving this time or are we looking for God’s next new opportunity? Ultimately, we will decide what our story is going to be.

Dear God, where are you at work in my world today? How can I join you in this opportunity? I want my story to be one of opportunity, not survival.

In Christ’s Name,

Amen