Ministry

15 years ago, my wife and I got married with an absolutely beautiful wedding text:

“Glorify the Lord with me, let us exalt his name together.” (Psalm 34:3)

It was, to us, inspiring, encouraging, and set a hope for an amazing future.

Unfortunately, (or fortunately?) we missed some of the verses nearby, that may have given us a more accurate picture of why this psalm was written, and what was going on for the person who wrote it.

The verses around it have words like: affliction, fear, and trouble.

These are words that every person who lives through the ups and downs of marriage – let alone the ups and downs of life – encounter.

Marriage is hard. Marriage is difficult. But a good marriage is worth the hard times, the difficulty, the struggle.

This is true of life also. The great things of life are rarely easy. They take hard work. They especially take courage – one of our Endeavour Way values. It requires courage to face hard things, difficult tasks, uncertain futures. But it is worth it.

Term 4 includes things like exams, preparing to leave school, preparing to go up a year level, preparing for a new career, preparing for a new role.

I believe that every time we face something new, face something hard, face something challenging, we show courage, but more than that, I believe that when we do so we actually glorify God. And when we get help from others, do it with others, we exalt God together.

Why?

Because when we do so it means we have to have faith – faith in ourselves and what is inside of us – which honours God who made us, and faith in God, that God will help us by His Holy Spirit.

May you have the courage to face things that can be difficult, knowing that facing difficult things is worth it, and knowing that by doing so you are expressing faith, and praising God.

Blessings,

Chris Mann

Pastor