I now live in between two places of ministry and find myself attempting to adapt to new realities. I need to always have that emergency bag with me - tooth brush, razor - and find my way into a new rhythm as we all do in changes within our lives. I have been thinking of this verse:
So let us not become tired of doing good: for if we do not give up, the time will come when we will reap the harvest. (Galatians 6: 9)
There is a lesson in the story of the tortoise and the hare. One was fast and could have easily won, had he not been overly confident and rested during the race. The other just kept plodding along, straight past the finish line. I want to be the plodder, the stick-to-the-path racer, and make it to the finishing line.
Paul writes to a small faith community to not get tired of doing good. When you look for clear results you may not see them in the immediate but if you persist you will reap a harvest.
I see harvest all around me in the Townships with stalls filled with fresh produce from the field. I see the seeds of ministry in Emmanuel and SouthWest and know that we need to not be weary in adjusting to new challenges and to stay the course. Plodders! Not discouraged! And focused on harvest, on the fruit of what we hope for.
The following words are often sung to the tune of Finlandia by Jean Sibelius:
Be still my soul, the Lord is on thy side, bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Trust in your God, your Saviour and your guide,
who through all changes faithful will remain.
Be still me soul, your best, your heavenly friend
through stormy ways leads to a peaceful end.
(VU 652, Katharina von Schlegel)
These words root me In the soil of hope and faith.
Stay the course through times of change. Keep on plodding on the path of life. And do good, always, with a generous spirit knowing that God sustains us and strengthens us.
Rev. David
Click below to hear Libera Boys Choir sing the hymn referenced above.