The Covering That Carries Us
Why Generations and Legacy Matter
I never planned on experiencing a dark night of the soul. I didn’t even know such a thing existed. But there I was, sitting in my pastor’s office, in a heap of tears, listening to him give language to the turmoil I was experiencing. My life had fallen apart and I couldn’t seem to regain my footing. God felt silent, nothing made sense, and the things I had previously relied on for comfort and relief were no longer working.
For the next several months, as I returned to his office, my pastor sat with me, allowing me to unravel and offering words of encouragement and hope that kept me from spiraling further into the abyss. In the process, he became not just my pastor, but a mentor and spiritual father — someone who prayed with me, interceded for me, and stood in the gap when I could barely manage to stand on my own two feet. His prayers carried me when my words fell short, and his own testimony of God’s faithfulness strengthened what fragile faith I had left. I didn’t recognize it then, but I see it more clearly now — it was those small moments and quiet acts of faith that became the unseen scaffolding still holding me up today. Every prayer he uttered, word he spoke, and story he shared became a thread of God’s faithfulness, weaving a steady support that has carried me all these years.
His prayers carried me when my words fell short, and his own testimony of God’s faithfulness strengthened what fragile faith I had left.
This is what spiritual mothers and fathers do for us — they serve as coverings, not only through their words and prayers but through the way they live out their faith and embody the heart of Christ. This covering isn’t just for comfort — it’s also for courage. Knowing we are upheld by those who walked faithfully before us emboldens us to face trials with perseverance. Their stories of God’s provision remind us that He who was faithful then will be faithful now.
Nowhere is this generational faith more beautifully captured in scripture than in 2 Timothy 1:5, when Paul is urging Timothy on in the faith: “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.” I’ve read this verse countless times, but only recently have come to appreciate its magnitude. We don’t know much about Lois. We don’t know who she was married to or how many children she had. We don’t know what she did for a living or what she accomplished in her life. We don’t know what she owned or what kind of house she lived in. We don’t know what she looked like, what gifts she had, or what she liked to do in her spare time. We just know this: she had faith — a faith so sincere that it took root and lived on in her child and grandchild.
“I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.”
A faith so sincere that it prepared the soil of Timothy’s heart to become the protégée of the great apostle. A faith so sincere that it was worth remembering and recording for generations to come. Faith is not meant to end with us. It is meant to be passed down, layered upon, and lived out so that the next generation has a firm foundation to stand on. It is the most important legacy we can leave – the only thing that will echo into eternity. When I think back to those hours spent in my pastor’s office, I realize that his prayers didn’t just help me make it through a season. They planted something in me – a resilience, a trust, a deeper dependence on God – that I now carry and, prayerfully, will try to pass on.
We may never know the full impact of our faith on this side of eternity. We may never see the lives that are upheld because we whispered a prayer, spoke a word of encouragement, or chose to keep believing when everything told us to give up. But heaven keeps the record, and eternity will echo with the fruit of our faith. So let us be faithful. Let us be the ones who stand in the gap, who pray, who cover, who mentor, who live out Christ before the watching eye of the next generation. Because one day, they will look back and realize that it was those simple moments of faith that became the scaffolding that carried them through.
