Here's something the Lord is teaching me right now...when I walk with God, the news is always good. Either God is at work in my long term best interests, bringing about what is right and good, or He isn't. Either I let Him have His way with me, or I try to bring about what is best for me and my family on my own. Some of us have the tendency to focus on what we have lost, how we have failed. We ponder and meditate on our regrets, our wounds, and our questions. We can be haunted by what might have been instead of celebrating what is. In scripture, those who really knew God never mourn what they have missed, instead they celebrated all they had gained. Does your knowledge of God - of His grace, His mercy, His love, His goodness - outweigh all the pain and hard times you have had to endure? If we are not able to say that, can we truly say that we have known God?
I am tired of Hurricane Harvey. I am ready for all of this to be done and for things to settle down. I long for the routine, familiar, and predictable. I have had enough of trying to limit or mitigate the effects of Harvey on my family and property. I have become worn out trying to control and make sense of how my church is recovering from the hurricane. I am just about through with the ongoing, and seemingly never ending, management issues related to hundreds of volunteers funneling through my church on a weekly basis to assist our community in the recovery efforts. The logistics of making it all work week in and week out, the delicate dance of being the pastor to all the personalities involved, is exhausting. Add to this my broken heart for our community. I receive gut punches every day as I listen to the stories of evacuation, recovery, and rebuild. I steel myself to being able to do what I can each week and letting everything else go. I am sick of people saying the Lord will ...
Comments