Let’s continue to explore what Ephesians 4 tells us about our calling as replant wives:
“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
Paul charges the believers to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”
I bet that, like me, you desire to have unity in your marriage and in your church family. It is up to you, by walking in the Spirit, to live like this.
If you are not unified with your husband in replanting, you’re creating one more battle for him to fight. You are called to be unified in the Spirit. Together with your husband, you need to fight for your marriage, that it would be a place of unity and peace for the sake of the gospel, and for the sake of revitalizing this dying church — a place that has perhaps been marked by disunity and infighting.
Paul goes on to remind us, “You were called to one hope when you were called.”
Here’s that calling again. We are a people of hope. There is hope in replanting: hope that God will be glorified, hope that you will grow to know Him more deeply, hope for the lost to be saved.
And not just one hope, but “one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
If you really believe this, you need to apply it to the replanting of churches. This sick or dying church you’ve been called to revitalize has the same God and Father as you. The people there are under the sovereign care of Jesus Christ, and because of that you can love them and serve beside them. You can catch the vision of replanting even more vividly when you see it through the lens of “one God and Father of all.”
In closing, I want us to consider Esther. Arguably, the most poignant and famous moment in her life comes in Esther 4:14. Mordecai confronts and inspires her:
“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
Do you believe you’ve been called to replanting for such a time as this? God will redeem and bring life to His church. What an awesome privilege that He would use us!
Published February 15, 2018
