People Make a Place

In a previous post, I talked about unity in Christ, and here I plan to reflect on that some more, but with a slightly different focus - people making a place.

You may wonder what I mean when I say "people make a place", I mean that when we say we miss a place, the reason we miss the place is more often than not, in my experience, the people rather than the place itself. There isn't really one single Scripture passage that reflects this, but I just wish to get some thoughts on people down (generally, not specific people).

Many times, I have done teams in different places, from Letterkenny PCI team to the MAD Crew in Coleraine Uni just over the road from home, right through to an Exodus team in Poland. Each time, the Lord Jesus is exalted and proclaimed, lots of great experiences of fellowship are had with other people, with people who before I often didn't even know. It's always amazing to see what God does as He unites us as we all strive together towards the one goal of proclaiming the Lord Jesus to the kids and/or teenagers, whilst also getting to know one another, working together for the glory of Christ. On teams, we come from all corners of Northern Ireland and/or the Republic of Ireland, and usually start off knowing nobody (there are exceptions, especially in NI Christian circles), yet we end the team knowing everyone (to varying levels of course). We leave reluctantly, wanting to stay with the great people and continue the work, yet we leave tired, needing rest. Teams can't last forever, but we're all standing for the Lord daily on earth, so in that sense we're all family in Christ daily taking a stand for Him.

There is a common theme that runs through the Bible of God's people coming together to pursue the Lord, to have fellowship, to encourage and challenge one another. Sin often gets in the way, but God works through that.

I should clarify, I'm not saying the place itself isn't missed, I'm simply saying more often than not, we miss the people more than the place. For example, when I'm in Belfast at Uni or in Dublin working in placement year, I miss my home town of Limavady. I miss the peace and quiet of the countryside, Limavady is so quiet and peaceful compared to the madness of Belfast, never mind Dublin! But I miss the people even more than the place.

Even though we have long distances separating us, technology can help, and God's family is worldwide. God's Church is worldwide. God isn't limited by people being in different locations. He uses all things for His glory and His purposes, including things like people being apart for extended periods of time. Just last week, the Monday was a bank holiday in NI, and it was the MAD weekend. Together with 30 or 40 (or however many were on crew) other young adult Christians, we served the Lord, we got to know one another and the Lord produced tremendous unity amongst us as we all focused on proclaiming and glorifying Him to the young people. That was a great weekend, but it left us all very tired. It was so great to see some of my DV pals and work alongside them at MAD, even better that it was in Coleraine, super handy to Limavady (usually have to trek to Belfast for these things). Then on the Monday of the bank holiday, I was back in Belfast and managed to go to Ashers for lunch with two of my Uni friends, having a great time catching up with them, discussing various current affairs with them and so on (shoutout to Roseanna and Gibbers!).

I've been trying to think of what I'm aiming to say through this post, and I've concluded that what I'm trying to say is that God works all things for His glory and your good as a redeemed child of the one true King. Romans 8:26-28 says,

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

In the context of this greater passage, one of the most well known New Testament passages, these verses are incredible. The focus here is verse 28, but I'd encourage you to take a read for yourself (Romans 8) at this chapter and Romans more widely (it's one of my favourite books in the Bible). How amazing is it that God works all things, both good and bad, for our good, but also for His glory? Tremendous. We have so many, infact Paul says we have every spiritual blessing because we are in Christ. We are only in Christ because of what God has done through Him on the cross of calvary to reconcile us to Himself (2 Corinthians 5:11-21).

People come and go from our lives, we have primary school friends, secondary school friends, university friends, work friends, Church friends and so on. But as people come and go, they more often than not leave a lasting legacy. The thing to remember is that Jesus Christ our Lord doesn't come and go, from the moment He entered your life, He has not moved, He remains. He is the one consistency in our lives. As people always come and go from Adelaide Road Presbyterian Church, you can get somewhat accustomed to it, but we must remember to be grateful for every person that is in our lives, because, despite what we may think of them, God is using them for His glory and purposes. One song about how God works in our lives (Trust in You by Lauren Daigle), a line goes like this, "There's not a place where I go you've not already been". I've found this to be spot on. I wasn't sure what was facing me as I came to Dublin, but I knew that God was there before me, preparing the way (like John the Baptist prepared the way for the Lord Jesus in the Gospels). Little did I know I'd become friends with so many awesome people in ARCP - Ethan, Leo, Rebekah, Emily, Caroline, Stephanie, John, and many many more. Little did I know how much of a blessing being in Dublin for these 10 months would be - it has been amazing so far and I'm not quite half way through yet!

So, as I wrap this up, I want to encourage you all and indeed myself, to be thankful for the people God places in our lives and for what He does in and through them. Remember it is about glorifying the Lord, seeing others as better than ourselves (thinking of ourselves less). We must be intentionally thankful every day for the people God has placed in our lives, we must daily die to self and pick up our cross, surrendering our all to Him. We must let the Scriptures be the infallible rule of faith and practice in life (there may be a future blog on this in the next few months). We need to make God the top priority in every single area of our lives, realise that He is the Lord and live out His Word in the world, being ready and indeed willing to suffer for Him. Amidst all of this, remember this one thing:

Be thankful to the Lord for the people He places in your life in every season, remembering that we have "every spiritual blessing in Christ"

Just as Paul modelled so well for us, be thankful for the people in your life (Paul mentions it at the start of most of His letters - example would be 1 Corinthians 1:4-9). That's all for now, hopefully my ramblings make some sense! God bless, Ben