WISHES
by Marcia Reavely
Today, as I write, is my birthday, and I’ve been asked twice so far about my wishes for this year. When we pause to think beforehand about where we want to end up, it helps us head in the right direction. Since Women’s Ministry is also starting a fresh year, I figured it would be profitable for us to consider—what do we wish to have happen in our lives spiritually this year as women of New Life Church? Though it is bad luck to blow out the birthday candles and tell the wish, here are some wishes as we begin this new year.
No doubt, we probably all wish we could meet for 1st Thursday Connect like “normal” this fall—in the church building with a fun meal, sitting side by side enjoying hugs and smiles. That would be lovely, and I hope we get back to that before long. But even if we never do, that is not our deep-down, can’t-live-without-it wish, is it?
Paul tells the church in Philippians 1:27 to be “striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.” Our true wish as New Life Women is to fully live this verse.
Philippians 1:27 reminds us of what is important—the faith of the gospel. The gospel isn’t a try-harder-to-do-good program. All that is needed is supplied by the saving and sanctifying work Jesus Christ accomplished on our behalf. We need to know the gospel, in all its richness and fullness. But we also need to learn how to live in it—to experience the grace, to receive the forgiveness, to extend the love that we’ve been shown in Christ. So we wish to more fully know and believe and live the gospel.
Philippians 1:27 does, however, imply effort—striving for the faith of the gospel. Faith doesn’t come naturally or automatically to us. It is a gift of God’s Spirit, but it can also be cultivated. Faith is cultivated as we dig deeply into God’s Word—praying for understanding, hearing His promises, marveling at His works, examining His character, digesting His truth, following His ways. Faith is practiced, for one, when we give thanks in all circumstances, trusting that our ever-faithful Giver is doing what is good. We thank God for a beautiful summer for outside meetings, for Zoom so we can continue live gatherings for 1st Thursday Connect, for leading us into 1-to-1 Bible Reading before COVID-19 made it a necessity. But faith is stretched when we also thank Him for ruffling our comforts, spurring us toward more creative ways to love, drawing us to pray, meeting us in our loneliness, stirring us to more deeply long for the glorious eternity ahead. We wish to be women who strive for and cultivate faith.
Philippians 1:27 hints at the fact that we need each other—striving side by side for the faith of the gospel. Most of us probably believe the gospel, at least at some level, but we get bogged down with the here and now, don’t we? Dental appointments, life disappointments. We read the Bible, but sometimes we read it more like a history book than our Life story. We forget that we are in the Book, and that the story is nearing the climactic end which is really a new beginning. I wish I could keep my heart more in love with that new beginning and less with the aging demi-pleasures of this world. God knew, and I am becoming more and more convinced, that we need each other in this struggle. So we wish to be women tightly intertwined, encouraging each other every day—reminding one another of what is true, of what matters, of all that is to come.
As we “strive side by side for the faith of the gospel,” we will grow more and more to be Gospel believers, grace receivers, biblical thinkers, spiritual milk drinkers, love and truth bearers, Good News sharers, faith walkers, encouragement talkers, persistent pray-ers, sin slayers, new life livers, forgiveness givers, church treasurers, God’s glory tellers. What a year it would be if wishes really did come true!
Just yesterday I asked a little girl what she knows about God. Her answer was simple, “We tell God our wishes, and he does them.” She quickly added, “Doesn’t he?” I smiled, “Sometimes.”
Jesus had something to say about wishes. He said, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” You can read the rest of what He had to say in John 15. As we simply stay connected to Jesus and his words, He gives life and nourishes us and produces fruit. Abiding changes us, aligning our hearts and minds with Jesus and His thoughts. “Abide in me and my words in you.” Then ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. Some wishes really do come true.
