It was five o'clock on a Sunday morning and I was wide
awake in my sixth floor hospital room. The view from my bed overlooked the city
of Elkhart, Indiana,
and I could see the faint hint of dawn in the east. Between my window and the horizon stretched
the lights of the sleeping city below. I felt a keen sense of the presence of
God as I thought about the day ahead and the many ministers who would rise
early to begin a day of ministry to their various flocks throughout the city
and in the surrounding countryside.
I wouldn't be in the pulpit this morning but my long
habit of rising early to pray each Sunday must have brought me awake because I
was totally alert with a sense of anticipation for the day to come. I began to
pray for my associate who would preach in my place and for the other leaders in
our congregation who would carry the ministry much more than adequately in my
absence.
I prayed for each Sunday School teacher, each music and
worship leader, for the choir and the musicians, asking God to bless every
effort and every person involved in either the giving or the receiving.
Then I began to pray for fellow ministers, friends
throughout the city, and for their various congregations. As I prayed for each
one I also asked God to bless all the churches in their denomination and
finally, when I had run out of all the ministers I knew, I prayed for all the
others, ministers and congregations of God's people throughout our community
and in the surrounding area.
As I prayed I think I began to understand, at least in a
small way, how our heavenly Father feels as he looks out over his diverse
peoples. I felt a sense of love and appreciation for them all and for the
effects of their labors in our community. I asked God to encircle all his
people with love and to draw into that community of faith all those who were
alienated and alone and who felt so far away from him.
What a privilege it is to be a child of God and to be a
part of this marvelous spiritual family where God is Father, Jesus Christ our
elder brother and the Holy Spirit binds us all together with his perfect love!
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