I remember listening to a pastor speak about this in the first quarter of the year when I was in a season of conversing with God about how much more heavy, silent and hard the year is being than what I expected and wanted. I knew the start of the year would need to be slower to grieve the loss of a loved one, but I wasn’t expecting just how heavy that would be and how he would use my grief not only to teach me about love and loss, by also call me into a kind of silence I was unfamiliar with – a motivated silence without action. Month after month the season didn’t change, and my frustration grew with no answers, and I started to feel like the silence meant God was distant.
That’s when I heard this sermon from a pastor about how sometimes we feel like everything is caving and falling and we’re trapped in a corner and God doesn’t utter a word – but these are not moments of being forgotten, overlooked or cast aside these are the moments God concentrates his grace on us, because in that silence and detachment he prepares us for something big. I remember when I heard those words it was like God was saying ‘do not lose Hope, Stina, my grace is sufficient, and I am still working in you.’ – my frustration was replaced by a sense of peace again – even though nothing practically changed.
I made sense of the word ‘big’ with thinking it was an internal and spiritual growth that he was going to bring about, I wasn’t expecting it would also be a big fruit for our ministry. The 2nd half of 2024 has been nothing short of BIG from hard hitting and important conversations on our podcast including prenups and intimate partner violence, to representing Christ and his church at an interfaith dialogue, through to creating a human formation pilot program for the Riverina in 2025. Preparing for something Big was right!
In this season of preparation and as you look back on the year, I’d like to invite you to consider if there were seasons he was inviting you into to remain motivated in silence, seemingly without action? And whether there is a conversation you could have with God about what he was preparing in you. If that wasn’t you this year, I’d like to invite you to ask God if he’d ready your heart, to prepare it in the New Year to receive BIG, concentrated graces from him – so that you may glorify him even more fully.
For us the year is closing with nurturing joy and a heart full of gratitude. A different kind of joy from the one that visited last year in the thick of grief – a joy that feels a little easier and lighter. Also, gratitude for the all the lessons learned, the amazing people we’ve been able to collaborate with for the podcast and serve through our ministry. Perhaps one of the greatest points of gratitude is for my team. The Virtue Ministry team this year have been pushed into growth in much deeper ways with some VERY early morning starts, and the fruit of that has not only been individual growth and a closer team for us, but also an overflow of love, allowing us to pool our passion and strengths for our formation program in 2025.
My heart is full of gratitude and joy to God for the journey he has had my team and I on, and I’m nothing short of pumped for what he has instore for us next.
Until the new year, know of our love and prayers for you and yours.
Written by Stina Constantine
Founder and director of Virtue Ministry and co-host of the Living Fullness Podcast.