I Discovered Myself And My Joy Was Full

There was a day in my meditation time I was going through a scripture, in one of Apostle Paul’s writings to the Thessalonians. It came so alive in me that I couldn’t believe I had ever read that scripture before. It gave me the exact picture of who I’d wanted to be, and do for people. Here’s the scripture; 

“Finally, when we could stand it no longer, we decided to stay alone in Athens, and we sent Timothy to visit you. He is our brother and God’s co-worker in proclaiming the Good News of Christ. We sent him to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith, and to keep you from being shaken by the troubles you were going through. But you know that we are destined for such troubles. Even while we were with you, we warned you that troubles would soon come—and they did, as you well know. That is why, when I could bear it no longer, I sent Timothy to find out whether your faith was still strong. I was afraid that the tempter had gotten the best of you and that our work had been useless. But now Timothy has just returned, bringing us good news about your faith and love. He reports that you always remember our visit with joy and that you want to see us as much as we want to see you. So we have been greatly encouraged in the midst of our troubles and suffering, dear brothers and sisters, because you have remained strong in your faith. It gives us new life to know that you are standing firm in the Lord. How we thank God for you! Because of you we have great joy as we enter God’s presence. Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill the gaps in your faith. May God our Father and our Lord Jesus bring us to you very soon. And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. May he, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people. Amen.” 

This scripture opened my eyes to a lot of things. First is the love and responsibility I have over God’s people. And this is not limited to people of my faith, but to as many people that need my help. The love of God has been so shared abroad in my heart that I cannot just overlook people in pains and difficulties. 

This scripture also gave me the picture of how people can be vulnerable to danger if they are left alone and don’t have support or care from anyone. Sometimes, I have a burden in my heart to talk to someone and when I do, I see how they are in need of help and care at that moment. At times, I don’t know whether I have problems or not because I’d have been so concerned with people’s situations that I can’t remember mine anymore. I realized this is my nature and I can’t run away from it. Some people find it amazing how I could do what I do even with a lot of things going on around me, and I would say in my heart, “this is who God has made me to be, and I’m grateful for it.”