Dr. Kay Towns, St. Luke’s member since 1992, deacon, counselor

Acts 14:21-22 (The Message)
After proclaiming the Message in Derbe and establishing a strong core of disciples, they retraced their steps to Lystra, then Iconium, and then Antioch, putting muscle and sinew in the lives of the disciples, urging them to stick with what they had begun to believe and not quit, making it clear to them that it wouldn’t be easy: “Anyone signing up for the kingdom of God has to go through plenty of hard times.” 

Acts 7: 54-56 (NRSV)
When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen.[j] But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 

Reflection:
In 2020, I doubt I need to convince anyone there will be hardships in life. Within the span of fewer than 12 months, we’ve collectively endured a global pandemic, loved ones growing ill and dying, increasing racial tension, social injustices, financial adversities, political unrest, and weather-related and other natural disasters. Yet 2020 remains full of hope and healing! This is because we serve a loving Lord who, in his mercy, helps us to both get through challenges and overcome them. God supports us through the hard times in so many ways. Helping us to become resilient people and by offering faith through Christ, that is a mighty resilient faith. 

One of the ways God helps us through tumultuous times is by empowering us with the ability to not only get through hardships but recover and bounce back from difficulties. We call this skill “resilience.” From our beginning, we have been created by God with the capability for becoming resilient. Although God created us with the ability to grow resilient, we are not born resilient; resilience is something we must learn. It is a growth process God invites us into. We grow in resilience through God who equips us and helps us. We can learn this by studying the people of God who model this ability to bounce back after adversity. One person who went through great hardships and was able to grow in resilience is the Apostle Paul. Christ warns in Acts 14:21-22 that we will go through many hardships in this life. Paul, despite being stoned, thrown in jail, and left for dead, did not give up. Christ walked with Paul through his hardships and helped Paul go through them and grow through them. In short, God helped Paul grow resilient. We see how Paul’s resilience glorifies God, as evidenced in Paul’s continuation of ministry and mission (Acts 14:19-20). Perhaps Paul recognized this need to grow in resilience when he said “we glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character hope” (Romans 5:1-5). 

Resiliency is not about us picking ourselves up from adversity; it’s about our healing, learning, and growing through adversity by the power of God. In Acts, we find Paul and other followers of Christ heal, learn, and grow through immense hardships and become more emboldened in their mission and ministry to spread Christianity. We find a resilient faith of a resilient people! The Alpha and Omega who remains steadfast with us before, during, and after all of life’s hardships loves us so much that he moves on our behalf in our times of suffering. I recently read from the book Becoming Resilient by counselor Donna Gibbs who wrote, “Oftentimes when we suffer, we feel that God is distant. Unengaged. Unaware. Silent. We may be confused by what seems to be His lack of attention” (2017). Gibbs went on to share an insightful observation from Acts 7 which outlines Stephen’s stoning and describes how Jesus stood in heaven at the right hand of God (Acts 7:55-56). Jesus standing is significant as elsewhere in scripture Jesus is mentioned as seated at the right hand of God. So, what in Acts 7 brought Jesus to his feet? Perhaps, suggests Gibbs, Jesus’ change in posture is a reflection of Jesus standing at Stephen’s suffering, giving Stephen his full attention in a holy demonstration of support. What a powerful image. 

As a mother, I think of several times when my own children were seriously injured—and how each time it brought me to my feet. When we suffer, the Divine not only is aware of our challenges, but God intimately knows our pain. Our pain, and the difficulties or injustices that caused them, moves God to act—bringing the Divine to his feet. Perhaps God stands in these times as a beautiful and powerful expression of Divine concern, Divine support, Divine assurance, and, ultimately, Divine love. Like me, I hope you find comfort by this image of Christ standing to his feet, standing with you, especially in your difficult moments, and especially during your pain. This year may indeed be immensely difficult, but God has created us to grow into a resilient people formed by a resilient faith. God will lead you through all hardships, even standing alongside you in support as you heal, learn, and grow through the darkness.  

Prayer:
O God, we may feel steeped in the many pains of 2020, but the hope we have as your children is that we never go through difficult times alone. You, our Lord, are with us always. And not only do you walk with us, but you go before us into dark valleys of our life and work on our behalf in so many ways—seen and unseen. You also have created us with an amazing ability to overcome life’s hardships—to grow in our resilience. We thank you, Lord, for never leaving our side. And we thank you for leading us through our difficulties and for enabling us to become stronger through journeys of adversity. May we grow in our resilience with your help, and all for your glory. In the strong name of Christ, we pray. Amen.