Have you ever been in a season where you wondered if your life really mattered? Maybe you’ve reflected back and thought, “Wow, I squandered that part of my life.” Maybe you’re wrestling even know with the gnawing sense that you’re simply taking up space.

Could I share a story with you? Recently I spent some time with an old Marine Corps buddy of mine. We reminisced and laughed about the crazy and stupid characters and antics of our by-gone days in the Corps. Then my friend mentioned that in hindsight he realized he had wasted some of the best years of his life when he could have been making a difference in that season.

I had to set him straight. He really didn’t know the truth.

1. I had virtually given up finding a church that I “liked,” and was complaining about it to him at work one day.
2. My buddy encouraged me to visit his church, which ironically he rarely attended and dropped out of shortly thereafter.
3. I visited that little church and met some guys who invited me to study the Bible and experience community together.
4. That little group had an unimaginable impact on the trajectory of my life and faith. I was challenged to take my faith seriously, I learned how to really study Scripture, and I developed a love for God’s Word and his church because of that group. (It’s safe to say I would absolutely NOT be in ministry today were it not for that group.)
5. My life after the Marine Corps was shaped by those relationships and experiences at that church. Which is ultimately why I ended up attending Bible school, and then seminary.
6. At seminary I was invited to be part of the team to plant Seneca Creek Community Church in 1989.
7. Over the last 29 years this church has had a huge impact in our community, and in the lives of thousands and thousands of people, quite possibly including your life.

So I told my friend that whatever else happened 40 years ago, his life back then was bearing fruit in unimaginable ways to this day. All because he was willing to invite me to visit his church.

Am I suggesting you invite your friends to Seneca Creek? Well that’s certainly a great idea, and I would recommend it. But what I’m trying to say is that often in the little forms of following God we have a long-term impact that we may never fully appreciate. So before you start thinking that your life doesn’t matter, remember that God is always working. We just may not be able to see it yet.

Stay faithful. And let God do his work through you.

-Pastor Mark