The Best Way to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day

“Before I was humiliated I was like a stone that lies in deep mud, and he who is mighty came

and in his compassion raised me up and exalted me very high and placed me on the top of the wall.” – St. Patrick

To celebrate St. Patrick is to celebrate the power of the One True God who continues to work in those of us stones that lie in modern mud.

Irish raiders stole Patrick from his family, enslaving him for six years until he escaped back to his family in Britain.  After entering the church, Patrick returned to Ireland – to the people who had held him in slavery  – serving them as a missionary and spreading the truth of Jesus Christ.

Today, before you don the green, cook up the corned beef, or raise a pint, consider those who have committed wrongs against you – those who perhaps held your spirit captive  – and choose, like St. Patrick, to forgive them, even to reach out to them, serve them, in the power of the name of Jesus Christ.

People harmed many of us in our youth. Like St. Patrick who was taken captive or Joseph, the dreamer, sold by his brothers into slavery,

we experienced harm and a certain type of bondage that interrupted our direct track to growing as we thought we should. St. Patrick and Joseph both found the power of God to be stronger than the power of those who had done them wrong.

They overcame through the spirit of Jesus Christ and not only broke free but forgave those who wronged them. Rather than being crippled by their captors, they translated their experiences into the language of God’s love and wove it into a greater story. 

Ask Patrick. He found the road. Happy St. Patrick’s Day. A celebration of those, freed by Christ, who spent their freedom serving others.

You long to be effective in your faith. You want to slay the giants in your life. You’ll want to read this book. Jesus and the Beanstalk (Overcoming Your Giants and Living a Fruitful Life).