‘And surely I am with you always‘, is a promise of Jesus that should fill our hearts with joy, hope and victory.
…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Amen (Matthew 28:20)
It has been almost 2000 years since Christ left us to return to the Father.
A long time, but during which the church, with its lights and shadows, has been fulfilling the Great Commission that He entrusted to us: to go into all the world and preach the Gospel, baptizing and teaching to keep His commandments .
A duty, undoubtedly, far beyond our capabilities and skills. And that would be impossible without the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, it is not surprising that, when God calls us to serve Him, in whatever service, our first response is: “no”.
And, under a false sense of humility, let us reply like Jeremiah or Moses, “Lord, I am useless, please send someone else”.
Curious humility that leads us to reply to God to tell him that he does not know what he is doing when he asks us to do this or that.
It is not humility, it is fear of failure that leads us to answer this way.
The fear of screwing up and being laughed at by others, or that God Himself will throw our uselessness in our face.
It is pride that makes us answer God: “No”.
For if we were truly humble, we would obey Him without grumbling.
It is true that lack of experience leads us to doubt our capabilities.
But what we have to remember is that in God’s ways the capacity does not depend on us. It is not of him who wills or of him who runs, but of him on whom God has mercy.
That is why we all can and should commit ourselves to the task of serving God wherever He needs us, to make the message of the Gospel grow in the midst of this earth.
When Jesus committed the Great Commission to the disciples, they faced the same fears.
They knew their weaknesses. They had fled when Jesus was arrested. Even after his resurrection, He had to call them back because they had returned to their old professions.
If Jesus was not going to be with them, who would continue to perform the miracles and wonders that attracted so much attention? Or who would silence the enemies of truth with words of power and wisdom?
That is why Jesus, when he gives them the witness of the task ends with these words that we find in Matthew chapter 28 and verse 20: And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Yes, it is true that He physically left us almost 2000 years ago, but the truth is that He has never left us alone.
His Holy Spirit has been with us since Pentecost, and since then nothing and no one has been able to stop His church. And nothing can stop it as long as He is with us.
They may persecute us, they may try to silence us, they may even kill us, but as long as there is a church the Gospel will always continue to run. For we have the promise of Christ that his presence will be with us until the end of the world.
As Peter said when he healed the paralytic, our services are not done by our power or virtue, but by faith in Christ and the grace of God.
Whatever God calls you to, forget your pride, say yes to God, and start working.
If you have to train, train, and if you have to mature, do it. But don’t wait until you’re perfect, because then you’ll never do anything but whine in the corners.
Whatever you have in your hand at any given moment is what you must give to God so that He may bless and multiply it.
For even with only five loaves and two fish, physical or spiritual, God can lead you to feed a multitude.
And the fact is that life, and victory, belongs to those who say yes to God, to those who dare to put their hand to the plow and, in the name of Christ, go forward.
Until the finish line.
Because Christ is and will be with them.
God bless you.
Cover photo by Ellaby on Unsplash
En el Valle de Sombra de Muerte
A lo largo de nuestras vidas, todos vamos a pasar por valles de oscuridad y dolor.
Pero la Palabra de Dios da ánimo, y nos muestra cómo seguir adelante en dichos momentos, y vencer.
