Thoughts from the trenches

By Rebecca Vickery
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.  Hebrews 10:23-25
I didn’t want to go to Church today.  My joints were stiff and painful.  Sitting in a hard chair was the opposite of appealing.  Besides, what would I say if someone asked how I was?  I was not alright.  And sharing as much would likely be met with tears.  Would they want to know?  
Too little sleep.  Too much pain.  The obstacles felt bigger than the solutions, and I couldn’t see past them.  I planned to stay in and my husband tried to convince me that I would be better off going.  I created a list I couldn’t see past and wept at my bedside.  I love our Church.  But even moreso, God was worthy of my worship, even though I was in pain. 
I went in spite of my obstacles.  It was not easy.  Yet, I was greeted so beautifully by one, then another, then another.  I did end up crying.  More than once.  But something interesting happened.  My husband set up a chair for me in the back.  A beautiful friend of mine who happens to also struggle with pain and mobility hobbled over to where I was. 
“You’re not doing so great,” she said, not asked.  My tears were confirmation, she held me tight and said, “I look forward to the day when both of us are pain free.”  I knew from that moment that I had made the right choice to go.
From the sermons, to the worship music, to the fellowship, I felt my focus being reestablished.  Had I stayed home, I would have missed out on many wonderful blessings that the Lord gave me through all the people of Daybreak. 
I would have also missed out on a great reminder.  Our lives are designed to be spent in relationship with our Creator.  My biggest reason for going to Church had nothing to do with me, and everything to do with Him.  My pain doesn’t diminish His faithfulness, but it sure does a good job to distract me from my relationship with Him. 
That is exactly why we need others around us to point us back to God.  Walking alongside others puts us in a position to point them back to their relationship with God, but it puts us in a position to be encouraged by others as well.  We are not always going to be the encourager, nor will we always need the encouragement. 
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As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.  Proverbs 27:17 
And let us consider how we might spur one another on towards love and good deeds. 
Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16
Singing has a way of reminding our hearts of what our heads sometimes forget. 
“All creation groans as we await - What our eyes have longed to see
Every pain and evil we've long endured - Will be crushed by Christ our King” All Glory Be Forever (Sovereign Grace Music)
Pain is not the final outcome.  Even constant, it is not forever.  In the end of the book of Revelation, it says that there will come a day that He will wipe away every tear from our eyes.  There will be no more grief or pain.  Worship song lyrics should point us to the promises of God.  They should, in the same way as the Word of God, incline our hearts back to our Creator.
We are prone to wander in the best of circumstances.  We are driven easily to distraction.  Growing in community sometimes forces us to lower the façade and allows us to be vulnerable.  We don’t have to be perfect.  Sometimes we just need to show up and let God move through His people.