I know that we will not realize the eternal significance of our labor for the Lord until we reach our journey’s end, but occasionally we are privileged to receive glimpses of its meaning. Today provided such a glimpse.
We are constructing a church for a village in the interior of Liberia. It is hard to describe the excitement of this body of believers as they join with us in the work. The ladies stay busy preparing food for the workers, clearing the grounds and hauling water for cement, while the men build ladders and scaffolding, saw planks, mix and haul cement, nail boards, and construct the frame and roof.
Every day someone brings us fresh pineapple or papaya as a way of saying thank you for the work we are doing. Ladies gesture to clean the place where we are staying or to do our laundry. People all over town express their gratitude for building a church in the neighboring village.
All of these make us feel good and remind us that the project is important. But today a pastor from a sister church came to survey the work. He was genuinely appreciative. His words brought into focus the real significance of our work here. Over and over he said what a fine building it was. He could not imagine such a fine building in this rural village. “You building such a nice building in this area makes us to know that God remembers us here.” And there it was. It seems that this event spoke to this pastor the same message that David recorded in Psalm 40:17, “I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me.” (KJV)
What we do for God is not about us and our mission. It is about God and HIs. Our words and our deeds are carriers of God’s message to His people, even when that message is unclear or unknown to us.
Thank you, God, for allowing me to be part of your conversation with your church in Duowin. May you use this church to continue speaking your love to the men, women, boys and girls in this community. And may we always remember that our labor is not in vain in the Lord.
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