3 things to learn from St Patrick

As the world celebrates St. Patrick's Day with green beer, corned beef, cabbage, and green decor themed parties, it is important for us to reflect on what we can learn from this amazing saint. To ignore the lessons we can learn from his life is to use another excuse as a day to party and indulge in the ways of the world. 

There are 3 important life and faith lessons we can see in the life of St. Patrick. 

St. Patrick - the teenager that was kidnapped, made a slave, and yet trusted God had a great purpose in all of it.

St. Patrick - the man that feared death or pain with each upcoming day as a slave, yet returned to those same people and taught forgiveness over hate.

PURPOSE IN PAIN

Nothing in this spiritual life is painless. Faith requires blind trust. Faith requires giving up control. It requires being different, being scorned, insulted, and perhaps persecuted. The beauty is that we have a God that brings purpose in the pain and will bring something incredible as a result of the sufferings we endure. 

We must remember that pain, sin, and suffering was never part of the original plan. It was never supposed to be this way. God created Adam and Eve and he put them in paradise. It was humans that messed it up and it is humans that continue to mess up. It's God that always restores. 

St. Patrick knew that wherever he was then God was with him. He never knew when, or if, he would get to go home. He did, however, know that God had not abandoned him. 

St. Patrick knew that God's plans were not for him to suffer. It was to give him a hope and future. (Jeremiah 29:11) He trusted that God was a God of His Word - and God kept His Word.

PRAYER MUST BE YOUR CALLING CARD

St. Patrick knew the importance of prayer. He never neglected to incorporate prayer into his life. Whether he was a slave or a messenger of the Gospel, he prayed. 

It was during the fields, while watching over the sheep as a shepherd, that St. Patrick developed a strong sense of prayer. After all, who else are you going to talk to as a shepherd in a field surrounded by sheep?

In fact, St Patrick writes about his faith and his account and says there were days that he would pray up to 100 times a day. (And you thought you were doing good by praying 1 time a day)

It was a life of prayer that became a cornerstone of his life. It was also prayer that became a part of his identity. It was the river that carried him through the darkest woods. It was the light that guided him through the harshest storms. It was the internet connection that kept the communication line open.

St. Patrick's hope, confidence, and his life was rooted in his faith and relationship with Jesus. Those roots were planted and watered by his prayer life. 

YOU CAN'T DO IT ALONE

I love the fact that St. Patrick would evaneglize but then he would pair those converts up with others. He understood that we cannot do this life alone. It does not mean we always have to have a marriage or some type of significant other in our life. It does, however, mean we have to have someone that will help us navigate these waters and withstand the arrows that Satan throws.

St. Patrick must have learned this from Jesus and the apostles. The apostles were sent out to share the Gospel, to heal others, and to cast out demons. Jesus, on the other hand, never sent them alone.

"After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go." (Luke 10:1)

Jesus knew this life was hard and that the disciples needed others. St. Patrick understood this as well.

As Christians, we need a faith community and we need friends that love us enough to walk this road with us. We need Christian brothers and sisters in our life that will pick us up when we stumble and be bold enough to tell us the truth when we need to hear it.

St. Patrick spread the gospel by ensuring that other Christians were equipped with a support system that would pick them up and give them courage and strength.

We need those people in our life as well.

No matter how you celebrate St. Patrick's Day, take a moment to reflect on the great saint that is recognized and honored during this time. Walk away with a message from a life that can change yours.