Have you ever had one of those days when nothing goes right? When the odds are stacked against you, you’re overwhelmed, and you wonder if you should just give up and go back to bed? When you have a day like that—or maybe even a year like that—we have two choices: We can worry, or we can worship. We can’t do both. If we’re worrying, we are not going to worship. If we’re worshiping, we are not going to worry. Sounds so simple doesn’t it?
Will lament over injustice towards the black community fade in a few weeks? Will cries for change wane?
Maybe this is already happening. Maybe buzz about this was simply a trend for many.
But the black community is still grieving and desiring change. Will their cries be heard?
Personally, I find this conversation to be critically important for a couple reasons:
1) As a believer in Jesus Christ, concern over injustice is central to God’s heart. Isaiah 1:17 states, “seek justice, correct oppression.” I am compelled to consider the ways the gospel of Jesus Christ invades broken hearts and broken systems to bring about transformation. I am learning here, but this is my heart.
I am grateful to join my YFC team in reading The Emotionally Healthy Leader by Peter Scazzero. Each week’s reading followed by discussion have been impactful both collectively and individually. The final chapter entitled “Endings and New Beginnings” could not have come at a better time during this “Stay at Home order.” There were so many nuggets, but I want to share thoughts on understanding my practice of endings and new beginnings.
I find myself so grateful for the opportunity to a part of an organization that places so much emphasis on our individual spiritual and emotional health. Being a member of a team that has a culture that values our walk with Christ and our family’s well being as much as productivity and results is a rare blessing. Our corporate reading of The Emotionally Healthy Leader by Peter Scazerro is just one example of this. This book has proven to be a fantastic tool for genuine growth and reflection for me personally, and the rest of our team at YFC. The discussions that we have during staff meeting about the contents of the book and the insights that we have gleaned from our reading have helped us to see the material from a variety of different perspectives.
In our prayers, preaching, leading, and everything we do, let us yearn for God’s glory.
Paul’s heartbeat is evident in Ephesians 3:20–21 where he says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all that we ask or imagine, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Paul’s ultimate aim is making God’s worth known everywhere, for all time. This is my aim as well!
