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Reflections

The Pieces of My Life

Part 3

We welcomed the New Year by considering Eugene Peterson’s version of Psalm 5:3:

“Every morning you'll hear me at it again. Every morning I lay out the pieces of my life on your altar and watch for fire to descend” (The Message).

The picture of an Old Testament priest offering daily sacrifices on the altar provides a challenging model for us. For January, let’s talk about the pieces of our lives on which we invite God’s blessing daily in the coming year.

Community in Crisis

As we continue to lay the pieces of our lives on the altar of God by praying for the relational circles around us, we move to the next circle—our church and our local community. While I am writing this article, our local community is in crisis. Our governor has declared a state of emergency because of a series of crippling ice storms.

A crisis makes us acutely aware of the interdependency of citizens in community. Utilities workers, police, firemen, the medical community, grocers, and the media have all been pressed into extra duty. Churches and compassion ministries are providing “warming stations” for those without heat. Issues that normally separate us seem insignificant as we all face one issue—survival during life-threatening conditions.

The commonality of our plight reminds me of the poet John Donne’s comments on community life: "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were. Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee" ("Meditation XVII" of Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions, John Donne, 1624).

What has happened to our community the past few days has not just happened to others; it has happened to all of us. Though I sit in the security of a well-heated home, I cannot ignore the devastation around me.

The repeated question asked by friends is, “Do you have power?” Flipping a switch and seeing light assures us we are still connected to that vital surge of electrical power we have become dependent upon. When 90 percent of the residents of our city are without power, we no longer take this vital utility for granted. Electrical power means we can heat our homes, cook our food, and enjoy many of the other comforts we are accustomed to.

And when it comes to praying for our community, isn’t this what we are praying for—power in the spiritual domain? In Ephesians 6:12, Paul says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (NIV).

Many of the social problems that plague our communities are spiritual ones, and what affects others affects us and our children as well. Many of our communities are in spiritual crisis, and we are intricately connected with them. Sometimes we do not see immediate results to our prayers, but we keep on praying because we believe that God does hear and answer our prayer.

What do we include when we pray for our community? First of all, we pray for our church and pastoral staff, that they will be strengthened by the Spirit of the Lord. We pray for young people and young married adults who are endeavoring to raise godly children in an ungodly world.

Our prayers do not stop at the edge of the church’s parking lot, but we pray for our entire community to have a spiritual awakening. We pray for other churches, for schools, for the underprivileged and the homeless, and for business and community leaders.

As we daily place ourselves and our families on the altar of God, we also include our communities. When we have prayed, we stand back and “watch for fire to descend,” for when it descends on our communities, it will descend on us.

Points to Ponder:

When a community is in crisis such as ours, it is easy to pray for restoration of power that physical needs can be met. But our communities are in a much greater spiritual need than the physical needs evidenced here today.

Spiritual crisis results from losing connection to the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Join me in praying for spiritual power to be restored in communities across our nation.

PEGGY MUSGROVE is a licensed Assemblies of God minister. She is also a speaker, freelance writer, author and prayer group leader. Her latest book, Musings of a Maraschino Cherry was released in 2004.. You can visit her at www.musgroveville.com.

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