40 Faces, 40 Places: A Devotional JourneySample

Jimmy from London

Sometimes whole-life discipleship looks like persevering through discouragement.

I was born with cerebral palsy, which affected my speech and fine motor sensory. I can now speak clearly and have become a motivational speaker and coach, which is a testimony to God’s grace and faithfulness. I serve Him by sharing my story with the world on social media, in my book Dare to be Imperfect, and in churches in the UK and Africa.

I feel God in every area of my life, but two instances stand out. Firstly, when I finally completed my MBA, after failing it twice. God gave me the wisdom to finally get it. The second instance was when I started to look for a job. I knew I wanted to work in a bank, so I started applying for roles in nearly every bank near me. I got rejected so many times I began to get discouraged. I made appointments twice a week with a disability job specialist organization, and one day they told me they had a job lined up for me with my current employer in the banking sector.

When I heard that, I smiled and said, ‘Thank you, God. I know that it is you.’ I’ve been there now for seven years, and I have been selected as one of the 50 BAME role models within the bank, and I know God was at work in that accomplishment. God is the source of my life, and I feel Him in every part of it. Without Him in my life, I don’t know where I would be.

Reflection

Jimmy’s commitment to acknowledging God’s work in every area of his life is inspiring. In a broken world, ‘trials of many kinds’ are part of the whole-life discipleship deal for all of us. So often, our God doesn’t remove difficulties – but He accompanies us in and through them.

We are to keep going with persistent prayer and faithful service, keep trying to trust, and finally remember with thankfulness when God has provided breakthroughs. Jimmy models all these things for us.

Prayer

Lord, I’m sorry that I find it too easy to forget Your vital answers to prayer in the past – especially when circumstances have improved since then. I now choose to look back with praise and thankfulness on some of those answers. In trials of all kinds, please help me to keep going, keep praying, and keep trusting.