pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: sorrow


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All of the Time

Reading: Psalm 8: 2

Even though God and His creation draw praise and worship from some, others do not see the beauty and majesty of His creation or acknowledge His power and might.  Instead of lives that steward and protect His world and all He has created, some choose to abuse the earth and its inhabitants for their own gain.  Some even go so far as to murder, to wage war, to pillage the land for its resources.  They ignore or deny God’s existence because it eases their consciences.

In nature we also find occurrences or events that seem to fly in the face of God and His love.  Tsunamis and earthquakes destroy property and kill scores if not hundreds of people.  Disease strikes and takes innocent lives, often too soon or too young.  Individuals or groups carry out heinous crimes or spew hate and we shake our heads.  There is much pain and death and sorrow in this world.  But God does not cause these things to happen.  Violent storms are part of nature; disease and death come to perishable and frail human bodies; and, at times, mental illness occurs or Satan’s plans occasionally win the day.

We can ask where is God in the midst of all this.  We can ask why God doesn’t intervene to keep all harm from His children.  These are hard questions.  But we know the rain falls on the just and on the unjust.  God loves the sinner just as much as the saint.  God does plan good for our lives.  He blesses us with gifts and talents and often with many resources.  He seeks to be in a personal relationship with us.  In the midst of our trials, God sheds tears right along with us.  He seeks to be our rock in the storm, our comforter in the pain.  Simply put, God seeks to be present to us all of the time, in the good and in the bad, not just on some days.  May we too do the same.


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Being Fruitful

Reading Luke 13: 1-9

The world is sometimes filled with tragedy and sorrow.  You do not have to watch the news too long to feel the urge to turn off the television.  In today’s passage the people come to Jesus with a story of death and tragedy and are seeking help to make sense of it.  Jesus instead bring sup another story of loss and sorrow.  He warns us that tragedy can strike us all and that we must therefore repent, lest we will perish.  Jesus is implying that death will come to us all; it is up to us how we choose to live our lives between now and then.  Will our lives lead us to perish to hell or to rise to eternal life?

Jesus goes on to tell the parable of the fig tree.  The owner comes for a third year and again finds no fruit on the tree.  He instructs the gardener to cut it down.  The gardener asks for one more year.  He will tend to it and water it and fertilize it in an effort to help the tree bear fruit.  In this parable we are the fig tree.  Year after year Jesus pours into us through the Word, in worship, in small groups, …  He yearns to see us bear fruit.  The Holy Spirit works on us also, pruning and fertilizing and guiding us along so that we are more able to bear fruit.

As we continue to grow in our faith, we will bear fruit as we mature, just as the tree will.  As we touch the lives of others, bearing fruit and shining the light and love of Jesus, we will bring hope and comfort amidst the darkness and tragedies of this world.  It is through our witness and love that others will come to know Jesus, the only source of strength, healing, and understanding in the midst of pain and sorrow.  As we are fruitful and faithful witnesses, we are living for and pointing others toward the one and only way to true, eternal life: Jesus Christ.

 


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Prayers and Promises

At times we wrestle with a deep ache inside.  Sorrow and dreams that never come to be are two of the things in life that we all face at times.  It can be that moment we realize we are not going to make the team or get that position or promotion.  It can be when a relationship ends or when one we love passes on.  The deep ache inside is very real.

Hannah longed for a child.  Peninnah, the other wife, had borne Elkanah children and was more than willing to point this out to Hannah.  Elkanah loves Hannah more.  Peninnah’s unfulfilled dreams was to be the love of Elkanah’s life, but she was second in his heart.  To soothe her ache she lashed out.  But the ache remained.  Human solutions and efforts do not heal such aches.

Hannah chose instead to bring her ache to God.  In prayer she poured out her heart to God.  In faith she turned to the only one who can truly bring us the healing we need.  God heard the prayers of His faithful servant.  God’s response filled Hannah’s ache and brought her hope.

God may not bring us the job or the child or the spot on the team.  He may not restore the relationship and seeing our loved one who has gone on waits for us to join them in eternity.  But God does respond to the prayers of the faithful servant.  If we allow How to, He will restore, heal, and pour His love into us.  The promise is not to give us all the desires of our heart.  The promise is to be present, to dwell in us, to fill us with His love, to give us what we need.  For this great love, thank you God.

Scripture reference: 1 Samuel 1: 4-8


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In Our Moments

Have you had someone suddenly mad at you or suddenly lost a friend and had no idea why?  In that moment, you were probably stunned, sad, angry, hurt.  Sometimes you figure it out and become friends again, sometimes you do not.  Sometimes you just never know.

Hagar was Sarah’s maidservant.  Sarah was barren and advanced in years, but desperately wanted a family.  So Sarah convinced Hagar to sleep with her husband Abraham to bear them a child.  I imagine it was hard to  bear a child for a man who would never love her, who already had a wife he loved.  But she did.  I imagine that Hagar felt like she had done something special for Sarah and Abraham.

Fast forward a few years and now Sarah is pregnant and bears Abraham a son named Isaac.  Sarah becomes jealous and protective and wants Hagar and her son Ishmael sent away into the wilderness.  Abraham is unwilling but God reassures him of he plan and he sends Hagar and son out into the desert with some bread and water – presumably to die.  As this happens, can you imagine what is going through Hagar’s mind?  Do you hear her thinking, “But after what I did for you…?”

After they run out of water, Hagar walks off a little way from Ishmael and resigns herself to death.  She cannot bear to be near him and to hear his cries for water.  Hagar is in anguish.  But then suddenly a strange thing happens.  God sends an angel who asks her, “What is the matter?”  What a question!  God provides water, reassures her, and continues to watch over them as the boy grows up.  It all turns out OK for them.

Has God ever asked you, “What is the mattter?”  Has God ever entered into your brokenness?  You and I are blessed – always just a prayer away from God’s presence.  Yet sometimes we too are like Hagar – too broken and distraught to even offer up a prayer.  In these moments God will seek us out too.  Our God is a God of love.  A God who will seek out to lost and the broken.  Praise be to our God!!


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Waiting on Glory

In this life is joy and sorrow, elation and suffering.  All of us go through the ups and downs of life.  At times our choices and decisions bring sorrow and suffering upon us.  Suffering can take the form of caring for a family member dying from an illness.  Suffering can come in how people treat us because of our faith.  Suffering can come from the decision we make based upon our faith in Jesus Christ.  All of these things are part of the cost of following.  All of these things also test us.  Despite the testing being difficult, it will help us grow in our faith.

Peter tells us that we should rejoice in our suffering for Christ because that will bring us a greater joy when His glory is revealed.  By accepting and embracing the sufferings, we can draw closer to Christ, the source of our strength.  In times when we rely on Him, we become less and He becomes more.  In this we begin to see His glory revealed.  It is only a glimpse now, but we begin to see what it may be.  And, in the end, He will make our joy complete.