The other day I walked into my local Starbucks and one of the baristas said “You are the happiest face we have had in here all morning, thanks for coming in.” I guess I was happy this morning because I had not yet listened to the news or thought about the state of our country and all the hard struggles the world seems to be going through. I did, however, appreciate that God had used me to bring some joy into someone else’s life. God does those kinds of things all the time even when we had no idea how He would use us.
Is this a good lesson learned? Yes. God can use us for His purpose, to bring joy and hope into others’ lives, even when we are not thinking about doing such things. After 72 years I could write a book about how many times God has used me in spite of myself. I have discovered that it is always a good idea to spend some time at the end of the day remembering all the ways God has touched our lives and through us the lives of others.
You see, living out our faith in the world means being aware of God’s presence in us and everything around us. We do not live in a vacuum. We cannot live out our faith without the presence of others. Spoke Folk is the living example of the truth of those two statements. I freely admit that I need all of you to teach me how to love as Jesus first loved me. I need to hear each one of your stories of faith because they are real examples of what it means to walk with Jesus. I need to share your joy and join you in praising God for His grace. I need to hear your favorite Bible verses and what they mean to your walk of faith. I need to know that somebody is keeping me in prayer every so often. You all are blessings from God.
So every day I have to give thanks to God for the ministry of Spoke Folk and for all of you whom God uses to strengthen my faith. I believe we are good for each other as we share our joys and struggles and see how the Holy Spirit uses each of us for the good of others.
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