“Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
2 Corinthians 12:8-10
Episode Overview:
In this third episode, Isaac Adams and Trillia Newbell discuss why being a bridge-builder is so difficult and how bridge builders, in Christ, can persevere in their ministries. The reality for anyone building a bridge is that bridges get stepped on, they get driven on from both sides, and they’re the first to freeze over when the bad weather hits. How might a bridge builder guard against cynicism and despair? Why should they pray for the very folks who are burning bridges? What might taking care of yourself as a bridge-builder look like?
We don’t have all the wisdom to answer these questions, and so we pray.
Often, bridge-building work can be discouraging work because of sin—both the sin of others and our own. What’s more, bridge-builders can be tempted to look for external fruit from their labors, when the reality is that we cannot calculate our own fruit. We labor, but God gives the growth. Yet the great hope of bridge builders is that when we are weak, we are strong in the Lord. His grace is sufficient. His mercies are new each morning. And so we pray with this hope, knowing that, as one theologian said, “God will change out his workmen but carry on his work.”
If you know someone who is doing good bridge-building work, why not drop them a note of encouragement? We can never encourage one another too much. If there’s a brother or sister, whether publicly or locally, whose ministry you’ve appreciated, why not encourage them?
Hosts:
Isaac Adams & Trillia Newbell
Links & Show Notes:
- UWP Podcast Recorded and produced by Karl Magnuson. Graphic design by Rob Alvey.
