"Who is this coming up from the wilderness leaning on her beloved?" Song of Solomon 8:5....."My prayer for all of them is that they will be one, just as You and I are one Father - that just as You are in Me and I am in You, so they will be in Us, and the world will believe You sent Me." John 17:21
This week at a denominational gathering in central Virginia, I was impacted by a lovely, elderly couple that I saw several times on the grounds of that gathering. Both were in their 80's, and as I saw them walking and sitting together, I was moved by the oneness that I saw in them. When they were walking, I saw her, while using a cane, leaning on the arm of her husband who walked at a pace she was able to accomplish. As they walked, they leaned into one another. Later, I found myself sitting directly behind them during the service, and I noticed her several times wearily dropping her head upon the shoulder of her husband as he held her firmly, his arm around her shoulders. As I looked upon them, I thought of how they had come to that place together in Him. Once they had been two young adults who met, married, and likely raised a family. Though obviously loving one another when they embarked upon their journey together, they were likely, as all are, to have been more two individuals than they were one living union. Yet through their journey together in Him, they had come to this place where now they were truly "One in the bond of love." They were one in Him. They were a beautiful portrait of not only what marriage was created by Him to be, but even more, a picture of what every follower of Christ is to be in relation to Him, His Father, and His Holy Spirit. One.
As I watched that couple, seeing his loving care for her, supporting her, holding her, being her strength when her own was so lacking, I was put in mind as to how that is exactly what Christ seeks to be in the lives of those who are His. We lean on Him as we go on in the journey, and as we lean, He brings us forward at the pace of which we are able. Never driving, always leading. When we grow weary, as we so often do, He allows us to press into Him, while all the while He holds us in His gentle, comforting, but always mighty strength. That couple had so become one in Him that they could no longer be seen as two. They were one. In the same way, our journey with Him should look the same to a world that is surely watching us. When they see we who profess to be His, they should not be able to see us apart from Him. For you and me then, the question is, is that our reality?
How do we enter into such a life, relationship and walk? That couple came to that place with Him and each other by coming to the place of trust and surrender. They trusted in and surrendered to one another, but even more, they trusted in and surrendered to the One they worshiped and called "Lord." Such a union bears witness to a watching world, and we do not have to be married to bring forth that witness. As we journey with Him, through both wilderness and plenty, if we will walk in surrender and trust, the world will behold a life, lives, that are yielded, obedient, powerful, and One. With He who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. May such intimacy, power, witness, and life be mine, be yours, be ours.
Blessings,
Pastor O
This week at a denominational gathering in central Virginia, I was impacted by a lovely, elderly couple that I saw several times on the grounds of that gathering. Both were in their 80's, and as I saw them walking and sitting together, I was moved by the oneness that I saw in them. When they were walking, I saw her, while using a cane, leaning on the arm of her husband who walked at a pace she was able to accomplish. As they walked, they leaned into one another. Later, I found myself sitting directly behind them during the service, and I noticed her several times wearily dropping her head upon the shoulder of her husband as he held her firmly, his arm around her shoulders. As I looked upon them, I thought of how they had come to that place together in Him. Once they had been two young adults who met, married, and likely raised a family. Though obviously loving one another when they embarked upon their journey together, they were likely, as all are, to have been more two individuals than they were one living union. Yet through their journey together in Him, they had come to this place where now they were truly "One in the bond of love." They were one in Him. They were a beautiful portrait of not only what marriage was created by Him to be, but even more, a picture of what every follower of Christ is to be in relation to Him, His Father, and His Holy Spirit. One.
As I watched that couple, seeing his loving care for her, supporting her, holding her, being her strength when her own was so lacking, I was put in mind as to how that is exactly what Christ seeks to be in the lives of those who are His. We lean on Him as we go on in the journey, and as we lean, He brings us forward at the pace of which we are able. Never driving, always leading. When we grow weary, as we so often do, He allows us to press into Him, while all the while He holds us in His gentle, comforting, but always mighty strength. That couple had so become one in Him that they could no longer be seen as two. They were one. In the same way, our journey with Him should look the same to a world that is surely watching us. When they see we who profess to be His, they should not be able to see us apart from Him. For you and me then, the question is, is that our reality?
How do we enter into such a life, relationship and walk? That couple came to that place with Him and each other by coming to the place of trust and surrender. They trusted in and surrendered to one another, but even more, they trusted in and surrendered to the One they worshiped and called "Lord." Such a union bears witness to a watching world, and we do not have to be married to bring forth that witness. As we journey with Him, through both wilderness and plenty, if we will walk in surrender and trust, the world will behold a life, lives, that are yielded, obedient, powerful, and One. With He who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. May such intimacy, power, witness, and life be mine, be yours, be ours.
Blessings,
Pastor O
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