Pepsi... a faithful friend
Not the carbonated beverage, our dog. Now if you've read my blog over the years, you might be surprised at the title. Pepsi has appeared in these blogs as a source of frustration (see January 15, 2014) but today he is a source of insight.
Our weather here at the moment is spring-like: +3 degrees and melting. This means the sidewalks are slippery in spots as ice is melting but not completely gone. We were just out for a walk and I slipped on the ice. A quick scene flashed through my mind which included a trip to ER and a wrist cast. But that didn't happen. Instead, as I was falling, Pepsi's leash became taut providing a stabilizing force for me and I was able to gain my balance. Whew! Then as I walked, I began to think how this can be a picture of the spiritual life.
Seasons change in our lives. Even in our spiritual lives, we move through seasons as God works in different areas to continue to sanctify us. During times of transitions, it is often difficult to walk upright - full of faith in God, trusting His ways not ours. The path may be unfamiliar and even treacherous. We keep our eyes fixed on the path and try our best to walk by faith but sometimes we still start to fall. This is when we need others along the journey with us - friends who will help keep our faith strong. People who "continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel" (Col. 1:23 ESV). We need a faithful friend like Pepsi was to me today.
Thanks be to God for others who pray for us, encourage us, speak the truth of Scripture to us, and tell us the truth about what they see in our lives! Thanks be to God for those who are "there for us" - able to "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2 ESV).
I will leave you with a couple of questions:
Are you "there" for someone in the faith?
Do you have someone who is "there" for you in this way?
If so, praise God and rejoice in His working through the Body of Christ.
If not, pray to God and ask Him. Ask Him to empower you to be the kind of Christian friend who can provide stability in the faith or ask Him for friends like that in your life. Ask for what you need.
in Christ,
Tracy
Our weather here at the moment is spring-like: +3 degrees and melting. This means the sidewalks are slippery in spots as ice is melting but not completely gone. We were just out for a walk and I slipped on the ice. A quick scene flashed through my mind which included a trip to ER and a wrist cast. But that didn't happen. Instead, as I was falling, Pepsi's leash became taut providing a stabilizing force for me and I was able to gain my balance. Whew! Then as I walked, I began to think how this can be a picture of the spiritual life.
Seasons change in our lives. Even in our spiritual lives, we move through seasons as God works in different areas to continue to sanctify us. During times of transitions, it is often difficult to walk upright - full of faith in God, trusting His ways not ours. The path may be unfamiliar and even treacherous. We keep our eyes fixed on the path and try our best to walk by faith but sometimes we still start to fall. This is when we need others along the journey with us - friends who will help keep our faith strong. People who "continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel" (Col. 1:23 ESV). We need a faithful friend like Pepsi was to me today.
Thanks be to God for others who pray for us, encourage us, speak the truth of Scripture to us, and tell us the truth about what they see in our lives! Thanks be to God for those who are "there for us" - able to "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2 ESV).
I will leave you with a couple of questions:
Are you "there" for someone in the faith?
Do you have someone who is "there" for you in this way?
If so, praise God and rejoice in His working through the Body of Christ.
If not, pray to God and ask Him. Ask Him to empower you to be the kind of Christian friend who can provide stability in the faith or ask Him for friends like that in your life. Ask for what you need.
in Christ,
Tracy
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