Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I hope yours is a special one.

Honestly, most of us (if we celebrate at all) focus on wearing green, eating corned beef and cabbage, and decorating with leprechauns and shamrocks.  That is how we often celebrate holidays – not for what they represent but for what they have become.

St. Patrick’s Day is about a missionary who changed a country, and we celebrate it in honor of the day he died (March 17).

Patrick was born in Britain in the late 300s.  When he was 16, he was kidnapped and taken to Ireland where he was forced to tend sheep and treated terribly.  However, during that time he grew in his trust in God, in prayer, and in living the way He should.

He wrote later in Confession of Saint Patrick: “After I arrived in Ireland, I tended sheep every day, and I prayed frequently during the day.  More and more the love of God increased and my sense of awe before God.  Faith grew, and my spirit was moved, so that in one day I would pray up to one hundred times…”

After several years, he escaped and went home where he felt God’s direction to enter the ministry.  He faithfully served and became a bishop, but there was more to come.

Patrick felt the call to return to Ireland to share the hope of Jesus.  He did return, but it was not easy and was often dangerous.  He served 29 years in Ireland, baptized over 100,000 people, and built 300 churches.  He also became known for the unique way he explained the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit): he used a three-leaf clover to describe it.

Very little will be said about Patrick’s actual life and impact, but you now know.  And I hope it makes the day more meaningful because his life shows us great truths.

Life is often cruel and hard.  People can be mean and thankless.  But we are reminded in Romans 8:28: “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.”  God did not say that all things are good, but He did say that all things will work together for the good of His faithful followers.

We must remember that God has a bigger plan for our lives than we could imagine.  After all, we are reminded in Psalm 31:15: “The course of my life is in your power…”

Like Patrick, we must keep our eyes focused on the prize.  We must let God lead.  We must trust Him completely, and we will find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  The good news is that that pot of gold is what God has in store for those who persevere.

Dig into more of this man’s life by checking out the following resource…