Bible Study observations

This past semester, I've been going to a Tuesday morning Bible study which focuses on I Peter. It's been an interesting study, and some of the things that were said this morning were very encouraging to me. Jon Medlock discussed the grafting of the Gentiles into the body of Christ, and he talked about how our salvation is a community event, not an individual event. What an encouraging thing to hear. It reaffirmed the work I'm doing as a deacon, and reminded me of God's presence as I deal with all of the insignificant struggles in my life. It also reminded me that as a member of the community, I need to be persistent in seeking out community for my spiritual growth.
Although I'm not complaining, the majority of the community work of my salvation has been on the behalf of others, and I've realized that this is a very important part of my salvation. It has been a blessing to me to see how some of our community has joined together to rally behind some families in our church who are struggling right now.
In the same sense, although I sometimes don't always understand or remember it, I do know in my heart, that God is concerned about my struggles as well. I've often been the first to minimize my struggles, and although the issues that I'm facing in my life are not nearly as severe as the issues that others are facing, they are issues - my issues. And in my heart, in my mind and in my life, they are significant. I struggle with feeling that I am an adequate provider and that I am working for a greater glory through my work. I struggle with wanting to work for the simple reason of rejoicing in the job I have, but working in an environment where that type of work ethic is for the weak and naive. It's a struggle to work for the glory of God and His kingdom when such motivation basically doesn't exist in my workplace.
I touch on the other issue that we discussed today - that salvation is a combination of thought and action - that we must believe and we must act on that belief. Frankly, I think I do better with the acting on the belief than I do on the actual believing. As I stated earlier, though I place my faith in Christ, my response to the struggles I have every day do not reflect that belief. They reflect a belief that I must be much more self-sustaining because God has so many "bigger" issues and concerns with others around the world. How could He have time for my pathetic little concerns when there are people dying and others with babies who are dying?
That is the point of my unbelief.