This is a tough one.

Okay, well, maybe it’s not as tough as I thought it would be, because I feel so compelled to write it that I know it must be from God. But it still feels uncomfortable, so bear with me.

If you’ve kept up with our story for any length of time, you’ve read about some major changes that happened to us last fall. We experienced some crazy spiritual warfare and have been on our toes ever since. You’ve also seen that we have been growing, that this season of unprecedented difficulty in the world has not shaken us but has made us stronger and is still teaching us new things every day. It’s been one of the greatest privileges of my life to watch our little body come together the way it has as we learn how to be the people He has called us to be.

One thing I think we’re all learning is that in our weakness we are strong. Paul wrote that when he was going through a hardship and asked God to take away the thing that was causing him to suffer, but God said to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

When we’re weak, when our tanks our empty and we have nothing left to give, when the task in front of us seems insurmountable, it’s then that God can come through in ways He never could while we were trying to do it on our own. I think of Gideon wanting to show up with all his mighty men, but God whittled his troops down to a few hundred people that would never qualify as an “army” worthy of any foe. Or when the Israelites marched around Jericho, blowing horns, and looking probably like the saddest, weirdest parade the city had ever seen. They didn’t knock down those walls by their own strength though, and, honestly, they couldn’t have even if they wanted to. But God could with His mighty strength and His strength shines through best in our weakness.

Something else I’ve come to realize is that many times His strength comes through in the strength of His church. Ephesians says that He made known to us the mystery of His will, which is to bring unity to all things, and that the church is His plan to make His wisdom known to all the rulers and authorities. In that same book Paul prays that the church, together with all the saints, would have the power to grasp the immense love of Christ, and then he spends a few chapters giving us tips on how to demonstrate that love. I firmly believe that His love and power shine brightest when we love one another. Our love for each other is the most tangible way to see the love of God and we need love the most when we are at our worst.

The thing is, being weak isn’t a sin. It’s not a sin to need help. It’s not wrong to be dependent upon others. In fact, that was God’s plan from the beginning (it wasn’t good for man to be alone remember?) So while weakness can come in the form of sin, a lot of times the suffering we receive in life may be the exact thing we need for God’s power to be manifest in His body loving one another.

So why am I babbling about suffering and weakness? Well, right now we’re feeling a little weak and we need some help. Let me explain.

For eleven months I have been plagued with poor sleep. Okay, let me rephrase that, it’s been terrible sleep. From the very night of our spiritual encounter until now, I have not had a single good night’s sleep. When we went to the mainland to visit family and friends, I had some relief for the first time in ages (though it was never a full, sweet night’s rest) and since we’ve been home it’s only digressed to worse than it was before we left. Before you start sharing some helpful tips, believe me when I say I’ve tried them all. We changed things with our bed. I don’t have screen time the last 30 minutes of my day. I’ve sipped sleepy teas and rolled on the oils and taken melatonin and listened to soothing sounds….my doctor assures me I’ve done it all.

But I’m not convinced that’s true. Because I know when and why this started, so if it took something deeply spiritual to cause it, I believe it will take something deeply spiritual to end it. Now, it’s possible that, like Paul, God may be doing something through it yet and the answer is just plain no, but it’s equally possible that it might take more than tea and Scripture coloring books to make it go away.

It might take you.

Before I go on and have you thinking this is all about my sleep, let me pause, because I said WE are feeling weak, so I want to share all the other things that have happened in the past few weeks that prompted me to say something.

As some of you may know, the boys have been jobless since March. Their employer doesn’t think they’ll be able to have work until next spring at the earliest. In the meantime, unless something changes, Simon has no insurance and their unemployment will run out and jobs are not a dime a dozen around here. Rebecca returned to work after two months off this spring, but now her office is closing. So she is applying to offices around the island with no certainty of what the future holds. Within our church we’ve also been dealing with unforeseen moves, major car repairs and costly medical expenses. On top of that, Simon’s sleep has been degrading as well…

You get my gist.

The thing is, we, like the rest of the world, have no clue what is happening right now. We are FINE, we are BLESSED, and God has provided more than we need. But we’re also a little stressed, a little confused, and more than a little tired.

So I have a request:

Will you pray with us?

I said we needed you, and we do, because I don’t think these are just random events. I believe we’re under attack, just as we were when all of this started nearly a year ago, because God is working and our enemy is fighting tooth and nail to keep us down and out. What I think he forgets is that it’s when we’re on our knees that God meets with us and fights for us. And one of His favorite strategies is to use His church.

I believe you can fight for us too. In fact, I believe we can all fight for each other, and our greatest weapon is our prayers.

So will you pray for us? Will you join us in a day of prayer (and fasting if you’d like) on October 25? And will you tell us how we can be praying for you? If the church is God’s way of showing His manifold wisdom to the world and if people will know God’s love by how His children love one another, then I want our unity and care to shine so brightly that the darkness cowers in fear and people all around us glimpse hope in a way they haven’t seen before. I pray for the unity of the church daily and I really believe this is God’s answer to my prayers.

This year has caught so many of us off guard and we’re feeling it. We’re feeling not up to the task of all the things that seem to be piling up, whether it’s joblessness, illness, wildfires, homeschooling, discrimination, politics….you name it, one of you has felt the weight and is unsure how you’ll ever be free from your burden. And on your own, you won’t be. But together, in Jesus name, we CAN stand firm, put on the armor of God, and “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests…praying for all the Lord’s people.” (Ephesians 6:18) We are excited to stand with you, so please reach out to us with your prayer requests, so we can be the body we were created to be, strong enough and united enough that not even the gates of Hell can overcome it.

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^” We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace… For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
(Colossians 1:3-6,9-14)

AMEN