Day 14- Courage To Connect

Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:20-27, John 17: 20-26 

What do you imagine to be that one time that you want your mobile network to not have any issues connecting? When your labour pain starts and you need to call your husband to tell him so he can get you to the hospital? Or when your car breaks down somewhere on a journey and you need to call your mechanic to come get you? Or when you’re on the hot seat for ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire?’ and you’re so sure about a friend who knows the answer to a question you’re facing, but you just can’t get through to his number…

How about when you want it to not connect? When you run into that your parents friend that is accusing you of so many negative things and then brings out his phone saying he wants to call your parents to report you… You’re praying beneath your breath ‘Please don’t connect!’

We live in a world full of connection problems. Just as it is with mobile networks, it also is with people! It feels like a struggle sometimes to connect with people: different backgrounds, different genders, different cultures, different dreams, different values, different passions, different interests, different political ideologies, and so on.

Knowing this so well, just before He left the earth, Jesus took out time to pray for his disciples and for all those who would become Christians in the generations coming- that they will be one. His prayer was basically that Christians in all generations will connect, will collectively be a part of something and not live as isolated people scattered everywhere.

This weighs so heavy in the divisive times such as this that we live in. 

I don’t think the concept of connection for Christians is first of all about speaking the same language. I think it is about holding the same truth.  It is not about uniformity, it’s about unity.

In our reading from Corinthians, Paul teaches that we are all members of one body with different functions, not that we are all the same part. In essence we are different parts of the same.

None of us is called to an isolated, self-sufficient, superman life. We are all called to belong. We are called to be a part of something.  The plan and purpose of God over your life thrives when you are living in the courage to connect rightly, not as some disconnected element. God wants to bring you to you to be a vital, functioning part of something bigger than you. This is not merely about attending church, it is about being the church. It is not just about having a list of friends. It is about being in the rhythms of friendship. It is not just about having the contacts of people you’re looking out for. It’s about actually looking out for them. Your life is made to be an active living part of something bigger than you. 

A big part of us finding the courage to connect is when we realise that it is not first a burden for us to connect with others, as it is a burden to connect in Jesus.

that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. John 17:21 NKJV

Jesus prays for us to find this Oneness in Him.  If we’re genuinely connecting with Jesus, then that can be the basis for genuine right connections in the journey of purpose and destiny. 

Let this be the year that you wont merely float around the places and people that you should deeply connect with. May the Lord give you the courage to plug in and not merely float around for His purpose in your life. Don’t merely glorify the excuses, and shut yourself out of the blessing of connection. Don’t just be listed in a life group- connect deeply and vitally; connect with your connect; connect with your church; connect with the people you serve and lead; connect with the people you follow and learn from.

You can Connect. We have a blessed christian network 🙂

Something to Pray

Let’s echo Jesus’ prayer today, and pray for a new wave of unity and oneness for Christians and the church globally.

PS:  Looking forward to a special day in church today as we hit the final week of our focus series 2022!  You can send in prayer needs and testimonies by clicking here