Faith and Your Lasting Legacy

My grandmother June came to know God when she was in middle school.  Her uncle brought her to church when she was about 13 and after that she desired to learn more about God and the saving faith of Jesus.  She went to church on her own after that.  Growing up, watching her, it was obvious what the role of faith was in her life.  Her life was marked by humility.  It's the kind of humility that one does not find anymore, not just evidenced by a life of service, but a true humble spirit that whispers the name of God everywhere.

When I was in high school, I used to stop by my grandparents home often on my way home from school.  I would usually find my grandma in her living room chair with an open bible, worn from repeated use.  She would inevitably offer me a cookie from an orange tupperware container and she would ask all about me, mainly for the purpose of knowing what specifically she would pray for me over the coming days and weeks.  I would then hear her accounts of all of my other cousins and aunts and uncles, and all of the ways she was praying for them, too.  She didn't fail to remind me to pray those same things for them.  If the conversation turned to her, she felt honored, almost unworthy, yet quickly diverted to another topic - she wasn't fond of talking about herself.

She wasn't the well-educated, intellectual type.  She simply sought to know God and devour scripture because she didn't think she really knew enough about him (do any of us?).  When asked many years earlier if she would teach sunday school, she practically said no immediately, convinced she was in no way qualified for such a noble task.  But her intense desire to obey God and serve him outweighed her feelings of inadequacy.  When she passed away I heard probably hundreds of people with accounts of how much having her as a sunday school teacher impacted their lives and their walk with God.  That was really just one of many things too.  She constantly welcomed strangers and outsiders into her home, and lovingly accepted all of our strangers and outsiders too (and I'm certain we all brought along a few questionable characters at some point!).  She loved my grandfather in a way I'm not sure I'll ever be able to emulate.

I could literally go on forever reciting her noble qualities.  But that isn't really what I want to share about her.  When I think about my grandma, I can't help but praise God for her legacy.  I suppose there are a lot of people who talk about legacies, but I mean a special kind - a faith legacy.  I don't think she ever considered the amount of kingdom expansion that was happening as a result of her humble, day-to-day, work.  In fact, I'm nearly sure she considered her contribution to the kingdom rather meager. 

I consider her life and the others in our families who have diligently taught us the faith, and I look at my own family, and the faith of my siblings, cousins, and their children.  I know that none of us would be on this path of faith were it not for her simple, 13-year-old seeking.  And I get overwhelmed with thankfulness for entire generations of believers.

God shows us in the bible that we don't always get to see the bigger fruits of our labors.  The mother of Moses could have never imagined that God would use her rescued son to deliver an entire nation from injustice, slavery and mistreatment.  Ruth followed God to serve Naomi humbly, never knowing that her second marriage to a foreigner would make her the great grandmother of King David and ultimate begetting of the world's Savior.  Even the apostle Paul could not have foreseen that his work in the busy city of Rome, known throughout the world for godlessness and paganism, would transform it over subsequent generations into a sort of "world headquarters" for the church at large. 

In her lifetime, my grandma never knew how far-reaching her faith would be.  Neither do you.  Follow God anyway.  Do with faithfulness the arduous tasks he has put in front of you.  It's inevitable and promised - God will do something really incredible with your faith.  You might not know what it is, but someday, at the feet of Jesus, you will look upon your earthly life amazed at the extraordinary work God did with an ordinary person like you.

All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you! They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. Psalm 145:10-13