"Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured." Colossians 4:12 NIV
On June 20, ultra-runner Paul Tierney set a new world record time for scaling all 214 of Alfred Wainwright's Lake District peaks, a 318-mile challenge with 36,000m of elevation gain (the equivalent of four times up and down Mount Everest), in six days, six hours and five minutes. Following the incredible completion of the event, Tierney said, "There were lows and times I thought I’m not sure if I can do this anymore, but I just kept pushing on. There were also lots of highs. Achieving the record wouldn’t have been possible without the brilliant support team I had. They literally did everything for me, so all I had to do was keep going!”
And you know, this amazing story goes to show how important support teams, or people that work behind the scenes with no need for acknowledgement, are. Epaphras was one of those people. He is mentioned only three times in Paul's letters but was obviously one of Paul's partners and part of the support team that was absolutely crucial to Paul's success. In fact, Paul describes him as "a servant of Christ Jesus" who was "was always wrestling in prayer" for the church at Colossae. And yet, most people don't even know his name.
My point is this my friend. God made us all to serve Him - some to serve in the forefront like Paul and some to serve behind the scenes like Epaphras. But wherever it is you and I are called to serve today, let us remember that each job is as important as the other whether the world knows our name or not.
Heavenly Father, thank You for the reminder that a body of believers is a team designed to work together to be Your hands and feet and to lead others to the foot of the Cross. Lord, whether we are a Paul or an Epaphras, give us a heart to serve to the best of our abilities with no need for the world's acknowledgement. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen.
Happy Running!!!
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