The Lord blessed us with a beautiful Sunday, a day set apart for
worship and celebration. Our church observed "Pastor Appreciation Sunday". It
was all good and very gracious. Soon after the morning worship we had a special
outreach ministry with the children. The church parking lots and the church
grounds were transformed into carnival scenes and settings. The Lord gave us a
glorious day yesterday. Praise the Lord for the way He surrounds us with so
much love and grace. Praise the Lord for the way He embraces us with so much
beauty and so many blessings. He is worthy of all our praise.
In the midst of great blessings and
bounty we are aware of massive grief and suffering in the world where we
live. We are also aware of the presence of sin and evil, around the corner,
and around the globe, including the violence and the atrocities committed
against innocent people by the Moslem terrorists, the outbreak of the disease '
Ebola". The world is in a panic mode. People are asking, "Is anyone in charge
of life?" Yes, someone is in charge and that someone is Jesus. I'm so impressed with the many men and women of the Bible.
When life looked and felt as though it was impossible they wrestled with God
about it. They shook their heads. They cried. They complained. They accused
God, but they never ignored him. They wrestled with him.
In the Old Testament there's the
account in the book of Ruth, the daughter-in-law of the woman Naomi. Her
husband and her sons had died. Her livelihood was cut off. She was in a
foreign country. She said to her neighbors when she finally made her way home,
"Don't call me Naomi, call me Mara, or bitter because the Lord has made my life
very bitter. I went away full but the Lord has brought me back empty. The Lord
has afflicted me. The Almighty has brought misfortune upon me." Do you hear
her words? Strong words and accusations against God.
Elsewhere in the book she makes it
abundantly clear that she believes in God's sovereign control of all life and in
the goodness of God. Her wrestling with God and her conviction of the goodness
and power of God were not incompatible. Job wrestled with God. The psalmist,
David, wrestled with God. Jacob, the patriarch, also wrestled with
God.
In and through the eyes of faith we
discover that God's power is amply demonstrated in creation. Jesus' power has
been seen in the miracles he has performed but, most of all, his power is
demonstrated in the resurrection from the dead. He is so powerful that he defeated death itself. The Bible declares that
His goodness and mercy never end and they never fail. They are amply demonstrated in the good things that we enjoy day after
day. They are demonstrated in the newness of each morning.
There's a great story about
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the Russian writer who spent years in a Siberian
prison. At one point he had become completely discouraged and decided to give
up and die. His plan was to stop working in the field, to lean on his shovel,
and wait for the guards to come and beat him to death. However, when he stopped,
another prisoner reached over with his shovel and quickly drew a cross at his
feet, then erased it before a guard could see it. Solzhenitsyn later said that
his entire being was energized by that little reminder of the hope and courage
we have in Christ. He found the strength to continue because a fellow believer
cared enough to remind him of our hope. [Quips Quotes &
Other Notes by Raymond McHenry, Hendrickson Publishers, p.78]
By offering a simple word of
encouragement, we can change someone's life. There is an additional benefit,
and that is that we will find that by encouraging others we ourselves are
encouraged, and we will experience the joy of Jesus in our lives.
There are many things about our
lives that we can't control. World events take place and there's nothing we can
do about it. The economy goes up and down with or without our participation.
The future isn't ours to control; it's God's to control, and he is in control.
He wants us to know it. His promises will come true. In the meantime, he wants
us to be about his business, doing his work. Strengthening those who are weak,
supporting those who fall, speaking encouragement to those who are troubled.
This is his work. This is OUR work, our ministry. Our reward, he has promised,
is his gift of everlasting joy.
In Christ,
Brown
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