“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
– Romans 12:12
This weekend is our annual Family Weekend! We’ll be gathering from Saturday to Monday of the long weekend to seek God together as a church family. We look forward to seeing many of you there.
As I think about this week leading up to Family Weekend, the verse from Romans 12:12 comes to mind. It begins with the encouragement to be joyful in hope. I’m personally joyful in the hope of what God has in store for us this weekend. As you may know, Gabe, Rodney, and I travelled to Turkey in April of 2023 on a mission trip. Turkey is at the crossroad of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and even the city of Istanbul is half in Europe and half in Asia. As a result, it sees a huge amount of refugees.
“We travelled to Turkey last year to meet a group of Christian refugees. We had a great time connecting with key people in the church we visited. We’ve invited a leader from the church to be our speaker for Family Weekend this year, and we’ll have a chance to spend some time with him leading up to Family Weekend, hearing what’s on his heart and what he wants to share with the Lifespring family. Personally, I’m hopeful for what the Lord will speak to us together as we have opportunities to connect and share.”
At the same time, I realize that the theme of “patient endurance” this year has been a reality for many. Gabe shared on Sunday about some of the ways that he has had to patiently endure this year as tasks and problems have piled up. Theresa shared her testimony a few weeks ago of needing to patiently endure in her work situation. People in our church family have had loved ones go through trials and sickness, and many of us are in the midst of difficult situations. When I think of all of this, I think of the next line in Romans 12:12 to be “patient in affliction.“
Waiting for God to intervene and break through in our lives can be such a difficult time. I recently heard a talk from one of my professors at Fuller who was speaking about the topic of lament. He told the story of a friend whose wife was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and her health was deteriorating. Every night, this friend sat by his wife’s bedside, expressing lament on her behalf to God. He said, “lament is shaking your fist at God, and saying, ‘you promised things wouldn’t be this way.‘ ” God hears our lament and sees our pain, even as we wait patiently for him to intervene.
This week, we are joyful in hope, even as we are patient in affliction. It’s interesting in Romans 12:12 how those two are put right next to each other, even though they seem opposite. At times, I think our lives can feel like a mix of both. We’re joyful and hopeful in certain things, while at the same time we may be enduring difficult circumstances. But may we continue to be joyful in hope, celebrating together what God is doing, even while we try to be patient in our afflictions and difficulties, as we continue to trust God with the deepest things on our hearts.