A Great Cloud….and a Great Crowd

“Write about a person you knew personally who had an influence on your faith.”

I have never been fond of “choose just one” scenarios. Even simple icebreaker questions like “What’s your favorite movie/book/food” send me into a tailspin. When the question above was posed, I immediately thought of Oswald Chambers. And Dallas Willard. Eugene Peterson, of course. And so many others; it is impossible to name just one. They and so many other writers and philosophers and theologians have had a tremendous bearing on my formation. And the saints: Ignatius of Loyola, Julian of Norwich, Theresa of Avila….the Great Cloud of Witnesses who cheer me on!

But whom have I known personally, whom have I shared life with that has influenced my faith?

My parents, my older sister, my beloved husband Mark, my children! All the friends along the way, the Bible teachers, the pastors: I can recall myriad moments of revelation as if they happened yesterday. Even relative strangers have been like Balaam’s ass for me in times of need, and the Lord opened my eyes to see his provision.

As I thought through all this it suddenly occurred to me: I not only have the benefit of the Great Cloud of Witnesses cheering me on, I have a Great Crowd of Witnesses actually investing in my daily life! Wow. What a gratifying, edifying realization!

Many of us have yearned for a Great Mentor to take us under his or her spiritual wing. I know I have. But in longing for the gift I seemingly do not have, am I overlooking the perfect, custom-made gifts God has given? As I ponder the many, many people who have poured into me, invested in me, loved me, and taught me, I am at once humbled and overwhelmingly grateful. I see that God provided, in my itinerant, military-cultured life, a Great Crowd of faithful servants who showed up, walked beside, and spoke words of wisdom and Truth to me. Psalm 84 comes to mind:

How blessed all those in whom you live,
whose lives become roads you travel;
They wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks,
discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain!
God-traveled, these roads curve up the mountain, and
at the last turn—Zion! God in full view!

Each of these “brooks,” “cool springs,” and “brimming pools” were God’s life-giving gifts as I walked some pretty lonesome valleys. Most times they were beloved family members—especially Mark and my children—or close friends, pastors, and teachers. But sometimes they were relative strangers, moved by the Spirit to take a risk. Many times these faithful people demonstrated for me God’s sacrificial, extravagant love. Other times they drove me to my knees (especially my kids!) before God in desperate prayer. Some of the most memorable moments of influence came when they corrected me, dared to gently confront me with the Truth. None, I suspect, were intentionally thinking about my spiritual formation (especially my kids). But all embodied Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).

Which makes me wonder: how is God calling me to be a “momentary mentor,” to invest in your life, or the lives of relative strangers like the cashier at Basha’s or the workman who repairs my home or car? How is he calling me to take a risk? “It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God,” wrote my Great Cloud mentor, Oswald Chambers, “but we do not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on the ordinary streets, among ordinary people….” But it would be a mistake to set out to try to influence another’s life or to ponder how I may have had an impact. What is needed is to simply live all of my life in God’s presence, by his grace alone. After all, writes Oswald,

The people who influence us the most are not those who detain us with their continual talk, but those who live their lives like the stars in the sky and ‘the lilies of the field’— simply and unaffectedly. Those are the lives that mold and shape us.

If you want to be of use to God, maintain the proper relationship with Jesus Christ by staying focused on Him, and He will make use of you every minute you live— yet you will be unaware, on the conscious level of your life, that you are being used of Him.

May it be so, Lord, according to your will. Amen.

Karalee Romaneski
Jr. Warden