This is the next instalment of the serialisation of my book – The Teeth of our Exertions – full details of which can be found here.

Grow in grace

But, sixth, coupled to that you will grow in your dependence upon the Lord. When everything is comfortable and routine, it is very easy to settle into patterns that do not incline us to lean upon Christ. We turn up on a Sunday as we always have, we sit on the rotas that have always been there, we are trained from our earliest days to do things a particular way and it all becomes second nature. Even in our evangelism (if we are about that business at all), we have strategies and approaches that all just happen. And as soon as we are in the routine, relying on all that comes entirely naturally to us, dependence upon the Lord is often more a thing that we say rather than something we meaningfully practice.

But as soon as you are taken to a new context, doing ministry you never even knew was possible (let alone have done before), walking alongside people who are nothing like you, where on earth do you begin? How do you connect with such people? The only weapon in your arsenal is a deep reliance upon the Lord. As you set about the work of making disciples in a culture that isn’t your own, getting to know people you would otherwise never know, in what world is that ministry ever going to fly? Only one that the Lord, by a work of the Holy Spirit, is seeking to effect through you. We wrongly assume that we ever don’t need the Lord, but nothing quite makes you feel it – and depend on him all the more – than reaching a people so utterly unlike you. We so often have to get out of our comfort zones to realise our everyday need of the Lord; coming to a deprived community will grant it to you in spades. 

Similarly, you will grow in Christ. As we turn our eyes towards Jesus, and we recognise our deep dependence upon him, we will grow in maturity. The writer to the Hebrews is clear that Jesus is the author and perfector of our faith (Heb 12:2). It is by looking to Christ, and relying more fully upon him, that we grow. Indeed, Hebrews 12 goes on to say that looking to Christ is what causes us to ‘not grow weary or fainthearted’ (12:3). That means when we are placed in situations where our only means of standing is full and unfettered dependence on Jesus, we will look all the more to him and grow in his grace as a result.

This is why prayer is so vitally important because prayer is our means of expressing our reliance upon the Lord. As we rely upon him, Ephesians 6:11-18 makes clear, we will be able to stand for him, persevering against the enemy, because he will cause us to stand. As we look to Jesus, he who began the good work in us will bring it to completion and grow us in maturity. What is the sign that we are growing in maturity? That we trust in the Lord and do as he commands, happily and joyfully. And that includes obeying his command to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.