Encouraging Words

I have had a great time in Moscow. It's been exciting to teach and preach to a group of pastors from many different regions around the former Soviet Union. Each day in our meetings a different pastor shares a report about what God has been doing. As a result, I have seen pictures and heard testimonies from remote areas of the world, such as sparsely populated areas of Siberia. It's really fascinating as I hear about individual accounts of God's grace. These stories encourage my heart. For example, I heard today about a pastor's struggle to forgive. Because of a conflict, the government in his region had become unusually oppressive. This pastor knew that an individual was stirring up the opposition. As I reflect on this pastor's journey, I can't help but compare it to the Apostle Paul's challenges in the book of Acts. This Russian pastor shared how God's grace flowed in his heart - allowing him to forgive. Sometimes it's easy to allow challenges to distract us from our mission. His testimony was a reminder that God is at work in each challenge. It may be that God provides a breakthough in our community that is outwardly observable. It may be that God provides a breakthrough in the condition of our hearts that cannot be seen by others. Either way, God is powerfully at work.