Canada Ottawa Sentry Park 31076rd.
We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed. But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, … as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. – 2Corinthians 6:3-4; 10 (NKJV)
Some years ago, I flew to South Africa with a colleague for a work-related trip. The flight was ok, the weather was fine, there seemed to be no problem. Then suddenly, we were hit by severe turbulence; it was so sudden that the Captain did not have the time to tell us to put on our seat belts. The plane shook violently, and then it dropped in altitude. Things flew in the air, some flights attendants fell, and passengers were lifted from their seats. It was very scary, everyone screamed, and like in the story of Jonas, everyone called on the name of their god! My colleague who was sitting beside me grabbed my hand and held it tight as he screamed, Chantal, we will die! Fortunately, it did not last long; the Captain came and apologized and explained what happened. After he left, I asked my colleague, saying, “you are the man, how can you take refuge in me? I am the one who should grab your hand and cling to you”. He looked at me and answered, “what are you saying! You are a Christian; you can’t just die, your God is protecting you, so he is protecting me through you”! I worked with this man for many years, and he never cared about my belief; he did not even believe in being born again. But there he was, in the face of a disaster, thinking that I had the answer as a Christian.
Although the world and non-Christians don’t take Christianity seriously most of the time, they still believe that there is something non-ordinary about Christians, the true believers who demonstrate the father's image, not those who are only religious. Many times you hear them saying what sounds like, “we are out of options now; please pray for us for God’s intervention.” What else does this mean except that they believe we have a solution? Paul said in the above scripture, that we, Christians, look poor, but we make many rich, we look like we have nothing, and yet we possess everything that the world needs. As Christians, we have to take that role seriously, and we have to live up to the name we carry. One of the things the world expects to receive in abundance from Christians is hope. People expect to find hope, comforting and empathy with those who confess the name of Christ. Even though they might not show it, in their hearts, they secretly expect to receive words of encouragement that all will be well. For this same reason, we can’t cry when they cry, we can’t afford to lose heart when they do, and we can’t use the same language of discouragement and despair as they use, even when things are very difficult, because when we do so, they lose their compass and the small hope they had disappears. Though the same turbulence hits us, there should be a difference because we have the Living God in us, and they don’t. We can’t just die; we can’t just succumb; we can’t just be overwhelmed.
Jesus said that we are the light of the world. It means exactly that. The world is in darkness, and if the believers don’t shine their lights, darkness will engulf the world. He said again that we are the salt of the world. How can the world survive if Christians lose their saltiness? Therefore, we are called to maintain our peace and hope by keeping our souls connected to the source of peace and hope so we can supply the world in need of peace and hope. Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches (John 15:5). Without Jesus, we can do nothing. The moment we disconnect from him, we dry and die. We can only give peace when we have peace, and we can only give hope when we have hope.
