Young Adults' Group

Serving Through The Storms

by Pastor Mark
January 14, 2021

The challenge of serving amidst the storms of life

As we serve the Lord, we tend to hope that our life would run smoothly. We become better able to focus on serving Him and not be weighed down by the problems of life.

Yet we recognise that the storms of life do come. They can be overwhelming and difficult to overcome. Do we wait for the storms to pass and then continue serving or do we persist in serving through the storms? Our fear is that we are unable to cope with having to address our problems and to serve the Lord at the same time.

Can we learn to serve the Lord through the storms of life? The answer is “Yes!” It is something that I have been learning to do…through my dad’s funeral and the hospitalisation of my mom. What are my reasons to continue serving the Lord through the storms of life?

Reasons to serve through the storms

1. The calling of the Lord

My desire to continue serving goes back to the Lord’s calling. I recall how the Lord called me and gave me the privilege to serve Him. I echo the words of the Apostle Paul, who testified of how the Lord put him into the ministry out of His grace and mercy (1 Tim 1:12,13). He continued to serve the Lord even though he was in prison.

No matter what kind of challenges or storms that we have to go through, our service to the Lord should not be deterred in any way. Let us be challenged to choose to serve the Lord through the storms of life as He has specially called us.

2. Depending on the Lord’s grace and strength

While we understand that serving the Lord through the storms of life can be challenging, let us learn to depend on the Lord’s grace and strength. The Apostle Paul knew how to face the difficulties of life by depending on the grace of God. The Lord revealed to Paul that His grace was sufficient for him, and he would be given all the strength he needed to face these challenges (2 Cor 12:9).

I thank God that His grace has and continues to be sufficient for all of our needs…even as we face difficulty after difficulty. Let us be challenged to rely on the grace and strength of the Lord to serve Him through the problems of life.

3. Compassion for others

As we face the storms of life, the tendency is to focus on ourselves and our problems. The challenge is to go beyond ourselves to the needs of others. The Lord Jesus had to face His

share of difficulties in His life and ministry. But He always had a heart of compassion for the multitude (Matt 15:32). He saw the needs of the multitude and sought to serve them. The Lord had a real heart of compassion that moved Him to minister.

Personally, I have been learning to have a heart of compassion…to be moved by our brethren’s needs and to minister to them accordingly. Let us not be deterred by the storms of life. Let us be challenged to persevere in serving the Lord through the difficulties of life in the year ahead.

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