Devotions

Will our work mean anything in the end? It seems so tiny, so easily shattered! How can it produce any great fruit among these people we have come to love? We are right to see our own smallness. But we trust in the greatness of God, who has loved us and sent Jesus to save us.

The sower is throwing the seed around with such abandon! He doesn’t stop to dribble it carefully over the ground—to avoid the hard-beaten path, or the rocky ground, or the bit with thorns. He just throws the seed everywhere…

How in the world are we to care for so many new Americans, needing food, clothing, and furniture, needing lessons in English and civics and driving, needing friendship and advice, and most of all, the good news of Jesus their Savior? How are we to use our limited resources to share the love of Jesus with these people, so that they, too, may come to know the Lord who died and rose to give them life?

This is a hard time for people who love our immigrant neighbors and want to share the love of Jesus with them. Not only do we face the usual difficulties—hard work, funding problems, language difficulties, and so forth—but we also live in a time when the attitude of others around us has drastically changed—when our friends, neighbors, and even our own relatives may oppose what we’re doing.

Jesus faced temptation in the wilderness, but He didn’t give in to the distractions and lies that sought to turn Him away from God’s true provision. Just as Jesus rejected the temptation to serve a false god and instead remained focused on His Father’s will, we are called to stay focused on the true God, who provides for us, even in our moments of struggle.