The person you're finding difficult right now

Can I be honest with you for a moment?

One of the hardest parts of Christian community isn’t doctrine. It isn’t even finding time to pray. It’s the actual people. The ones who rub us up the wrong way. The ones where things feel a little strained, a little awkward, a little distant.

We’ve all got someone like that. And if you’re in any kind of church or small group, you know exactly who I mean.

This week I’ve been sitting with Acts chapter two - specifically verses 44 to 47. It’s that extraordinary passage about what the early church looked like once 3,000 people had said yes to Jesus. And Luke doesn’t give us a strategy or a programme. He just shows us people sharing, eating, worshipping, being generous - and the watching world not being able to look away.

Here’s the thing that struck me: the growth came after the unity, not before.

And Dietrich Bonhoeffer said something that’s stayed with me. He wrote that the person who loves their dream of community will destroy community. But the person who loves the actual people in front of them will create it.

Not the ideal. The real. That’s the only way through.

Today’s devotional is built around one small holy step - not fixing anything, just doing one tiny thing towards the person you find difficult. A text. A quiet prayer. Holding the space open rather than letting it close.

You can watch the full five-minute devotional right here:

I hope it encourages you today.

Rob

Read this week’s devotionals here - https://open.substack.com/pub/battledrilldevotional/p/you-dont-have-to-keep-feeling-stuck?r=643q6o&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true