Stress Test Devotional May 4
May 04, 2024
PHILIPPIANS 1:5 | 5 for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
If you were a river of joy, how many tributaries would you have? How many streams feed your heart? We have been discussing Paul’s practice of finding joy by remembering his friends at Philippi. Specifically, he recalled their “sharing in the gospel.” They had formed a church around Lydia and her household, prayed for Paul when he was imprisoned, rejoiced at his miraculous release, and the conversion of the jailer. They had survived persecution and no doubt turmoil over the succeeding decade. Remembering their faithfulness filled Paul with joy.
This kind of remembering breaks our intrinsic self-absorption and allows the grace in other’s lives to become tributaries in our river of joy. We can be blessed everywhere by anyone in whom we sense God’s presence and see His work.
Check your tributaries.
Gracious God,
You want us to become surging rivers of joy! Help us to be fed and encouraged by Your work in the people around us.
Amen.
