Standing Not Alone

When the Apostle Paul wrote to young Timothy, "I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice..."  (II Timothy 1:5), he spoke of an influence common to all who walk the road of faith in Jesus Christ.  Each one of us who professes faith in Christ does so because someone before us has lived the faith, walked the talk, and prayed for us.  Perhaps, it was not the strong family connection which blessed Timothy, but someone out there and behind us who stood in the gap in our behalf.    

We may be blessed to know the identity of those folks, but then again, it is possible that they did so from shadows too deep for us to see them.  Yet, the truth remains that we are the result of someone's faithfulness, someone's love for Christ, and someone's prayers.  As a father I remember the first time I held our daughters and I remember, too, the first prayer I prayed as I prayed that they would grow to adulthood knowing what it meant to love Jesus.    

There is nothing unique about such a moment for many a parent has held their child and offered prayers for the life ahead of them.  And, even as I know I am a person of faith because of the prayers of family, so do I also know that I am who I am because of people who volunteered to lead Sunday School and youth groups, people outside the church who cared enough for me and others to serve as silent mentors, and countless others who were watched and never knew that their lives were being noted as one worthy of emulation.  We are all on this walk together and to look closely is to see those who have enabled us as well as those we have enabled.