The past few months, David and I have had the privilege of travelling to different churches to share our message of what God has done in our lives and the importance of choosing joy despite your circumstances. Each church we’ve visited looks extremely different from one another. They’ve all been very distinctive in their styles of worship and preaching. Each of them has been very different than the church we call “home”, but it’s been awesome to worship in these places. I caught myself recently looking around during a worship song and I realized that even through these differences, we are all praising the very same God! How cool is that?
Some of the churches have been very traditional and organized, others have been extremely laid back and non-traditional. Some have drums, electric guitars- one even had a trumpet- while others have pianos or even organs. Some people in the congregations clap and raise their hands in praise, while others keep their arms down. But one thing has been the same in every single church we’ve spoken at. We’ve met some incredibly nice people at each place. They’ve been extremely welcoming to us and we’ve been blessed by the heartfelt stories they’ve been willing to open up and share with us.
It’s been humbling and a little overwhelming at times to hear the pain they’ve experienced and the battles they’ve fought. We’re so honored that they feel like they can come to us and share their personal stories. Even though our life experiences may be completely different, we’ve all experienced pain, trials and suffering. My pain might look a little different than yours, but we’ve all had to navigate through life’s struggles. It’s really pretty amazing to hear how other people can connect and relate to a part of our story even though they haven’t gone through a burn injury.
I love how we can all be so different, yet so similar and connected to one another in many ways. Scripture talks about the body of Christ being made up of many different parts, but each part is equally important. (1 Corinthians 12) I’ve been blessed by the diversity that surrounds us. I hope you are too! We all need each other, despite our differences. In light of the horrific things happening in the world around us, I hope we can put our difference aside and remember that although we may not agree on political matters or world views, we can be united in love. Each person has been created by God and is important. We all bring different, very unique views, gifts and talents to the table, but together we can stand up for truth and love.
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