(Further reflections on "Strive Together"--Sunday 7-Nov-2021)
It must have been something important and much needed in the church in Rome at the time when God spoke to the apostle Paul who compassionately penned down these words, “I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.” (Romans 15:30-33)
You may wonder what had happened that he asked the church “to strive together” with him in their prayers to God on his behalf. We only can make an informed guess from the text. The apostle Paul might have been (a) trapped in a ‘fight’ with unbelievers (Jews or Gentiles or both) in Judea; (b) rejected by some believers in Jerusalem; and (c) felt that his joy in ministry was diminishing.
We too might have been facing similar issues in our life. Assuming, we all had moments of being trapped in a fight between colleagues or good friends or loved ones. We all had experiences of being rejected by unbelievers and believers alike. And the pandemic, to a certain extent, might have taken away our joy from serving the Lord at work or at home or even at church. Life is complex. Work is demanding. Rest is challenging. Relationship is complicated. Singleness is fun and not so fun sometimes. Marriage is prone to be broken. Parenting has never been easy. Serving in the church can be joyful or tearful or a bit both (pastor is usually the first/last one to get complimented or blamed or a mixture of both). We can go on and on with a long list of life’s joyless challenges and they will get us to nowhere. Let us bring them to the Lord in prayers and strive together with one another in our prayers to God on each other’s behalf, that we may be delivered from whatever situation we face in Ho Chi Minh (or your home country), and that our service at work/home/church may be acceptable to the Lord our God, so that by God’s will when we meet in church (online/onsite) or in small groups, we can be refreshed and joyful in each other’s company. May the God of peace be with us all. Amen.
— Pastor Lap
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