The Work of Heaven and Earth

“I therefore, a prisoner for the LORD, urge you TO walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the BonD of PeacE.” (Ephesians 4:1-3)

Jean Francois Millet
The Angelus, 1857

Before I got sick, I had some fabulous plans to work as a deaconess for the church in all sorts of ways. Today, I can't work period. It's frustrating. It's disappointing. And it's heartbreaking. So much for a missionary trip to Sudan. I couldn't even make it to my brother's wedding in Michigan. It took me a long time to realize that work, wonderful as it is, is not God's only work.

God asks us through Paul’s letter to the Ephesians to act "with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." We can try to do this each day in all that we do: at work and at home. While working for the food that perishes, we can work because of the food that endures to eternal life, the food that Jesus worked for. We can be kind to each other. We can be patient. We can be humble and forgiving—not perfectly—but we can try. We can do the work of the Lord, working or not.

EVERYTHING THAT WE DO, including but not limited to earning our perishable earthly bread, is in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who died for us, whether it’s going to work, standing in line at the post office, staying in touch with friends, sitting through church instead of sleeping in, or picking up that Sunday shift for our coworker whose little girl came down with the flu and missing church altogether.

So, we act purposefully to that end as best we can no matter what it is that we do, "...serving the LORD with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me..." (Acts 20:19a)

Suggested verse to repeat if its a difficult day is from Psalm 145:14a

PRC buddies, remember to breathe!

“The LORD upholds -------> 5 count inhale

all who are falling.” -------> 5 count exhale