Yesterday in our Pastor's Sunday school class we were exploring the topic of how to understand God's will. Our class takes on some meaty topics and this discussion was no exception. One of our class members shared that she learned about God's will from her mother who reminded her that to live in God's will was to love and enjoy God. The lesson seemed to come straight out of the Westminster Shorter Catechism which states that "the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever."
Enjoy God! When was the last time you thought of enjoyment as an integral part of living in God's will?
I shared with the class that enjoyment and God's will weren't part of my early seminary training. The emphasis was on prophetic ministry and enjoyment had the ring of something suspicious, maybe even akin to hedonism. Picking up your cross to follow Christ seemed far too serious for enjoyment. Yet, our chief end or purpose in life is to glorify and enjoy.
Being a witness for God is serious business, but it can also be enjoyable. This lesson visited me on Saturday during our Becoming a Champion for CanCare training. This training is when we train our newly trained CanCare volunteers how to share the good news of their survivorship in their community. One of our "seasoned vets" named Kristi shared with the "newbies" how she has experienced God's hand working in her life. Recently, she was at her water aerobics class and a woman she knew from the class for several years shared that she was nervous because she was having surgery to remove her cancer. Kristi looked her in the eye and proclaimed, "I'm a survivor!" and for the next several hours they talked.
Kristi shared that she felt the conversation was no accident, but rather, was part of God's will. And she enjoys the experience of being able to offer, comfort, support, and above all, hope to those God puts on her path. All in attendance enjoyed how Kristi witnessed to them.
Speaking of enjoyment, I hope you all will support In Harmony for Cancer! God's hand is at work.
Prayer for Today
Eternal God, help us to witness your will by sharing with those in need how you have comforted us in our times of need. May our witness glorify you and may we enjoy sharing your good news through loving kindness. Amen.
