It’s summer and the potential for storms to pop up is a recurring matter. One may hear thunder rumble, as clouds thicken. Suddenly, there may be an eerie calm—shattered by a flash of lightning and torrent of rain. There was the calm before the storm.
Was that the experience of yesterday?
Marilyn and I attended the SEND Conference. The North American Mission Board and the International Mission Board joined together in sharing the inspirational stories of what God has been doing in 2020. Churches may have been shut down due to COVID, but the Gospel has not been shut up. Souls have been won, lives have been changed, and churches have been planted, even in hostile environments. This climaxed last evening with a commissioning service for missionaries—some of which had to have their forms only silhouetted and the country where they were going unnamed because of the dangers they would face there. Yet, they are willing to go in faith and obedience. This is why we give and pray for these servants of the Lord!
But was this just the calm before the storm?
The secular press—which is not likely to report these stories will be out in force today in hopes of seeing a big fight on the convention floor. They will salivate over the possibility of angry words and scornful sneers from those messengers at the mics during the business sessions. Ballots will be cast and an election of a President will happen—though perhaps not on the first ballot.
My prayer is for truth to prevail and love to conquer. Do issues need resolving? Of course. That is why we conduct business. Will we see eye to eye on everything? Let me ask you this, “If you are married, do you agree with your spouse about everything?” Over the course of almost half a century together Marilyn and I have had some disputes, but no divorce. We love each other too much and come to a meeting of the minds—and where we still do not, we agree not to be disagreeable.
Would you join me in prayer today that we might exhibit the Spirit of Jesus who was “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14b)? We can choose to do so, “For from this fullness we have all received, grace upon grace,” (v.16).
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