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This week’s FMF writing prompt is: ENDURE
Ready? Setting my timer for five minutes, and . . . GO.Â
Back in 2015, we held our first ever Five Minute Friday Retreat near Nashville. On Saturday morning, author and speaker Trillia Newbell came to share a morning devotional with us.
I’ve since had the privilege of interacting with her online, following her on social media, and reading a few of her books.
Yesterday I read a thread she posted on Twitter, in which she shared that she recently spoke with CNN about some of the racism she has endured as a black American woman.
Trillia always seems so joyful and exuberant, both in person and online.
It occurred to me after reading her tweet that more often than not, we have no idea what other people have endured. I’m not implying that Trillia has tried to hide the trials she has faced in any way, but simply that many of the battles she fights and injustices she endures take place behind closed doors, or perhaps in her personal inbox or direct messages.
Her comments reminded me of the importance of lifting up our brothers and sisters in Christ, of being kind and compassionate, since we often have no idea what the other person may be facing.
As the quote says, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.”
In all this, may we remember to “consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:2)
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Join this week’s FMF blog link-up with your own five-minute freewrite on the prompt, ENDURE, below:Â
Over to Henry Lee…
I see no gleam of victory alluring,
no hope of splendid booty or of gain.
If I endure, I must go on enduring,
and my sole reward for bearing pain, is pain.
Yet though the thrill, the zest, and the hope are gone,
something within me keeps me fighting on.
Lt. Henry Lee was captured by the Japanese in the Philippines in January 1942, and endured hellish conditions An accomplished poet, he buried his wartime writings in the prison camp in which he was kept, before he was transferred to a camp on the Japanese mainland in late 1944.
He never reached it; the troopship on which he was being transported was sunk en route.
Henry Lee’s poems were found after the war, and provide a rare glimpse into the heart of a valiant and honourable man.
It seems like we all need a 101 class on Ephesians 4. We need to return to the basics of humility, gentility, forgiveness, and compassion. It would go so far, not only to right many of the wrongs people are experiencing, but also to proclaim that our God is holy. He has a special way of doing things, and as believers we need to express those ways in our actions.