I'm been a pastor for over 1700 Sundays. Been alive over 2900 Sundays. For the life of me I cannot remember a worse weather Sunday ever! Now I'm sure that is an overstatement. But it does seem that way. Of course if we lived in North Dakota this would be just another day and off we'd go. But we are not used to this. In spite of freezing rain, sleet and snow that is continuing throughtout the day we gathered for worship today. And the truth is the Lord was with us.
We began our "Life of Grace" series and talked about the grace of God at work upon and within us. It is good news to know that God, the Holy Spirit is working to bring us into relationship with Jesus and lead us in the life of grace.
Since only about 40% of our normal crowd was present we got the service on-line and you are encouraged to take a look. Go to our website and join us in worship. Amazing isn't it?
But enough of that. What do we do when circumstances beyond our control affect us? We might complain about things and it could make us feel better for a moment but complaining never changes anything. We could go the "make excuses" route. Things would be better if....By the same token excuses do not improve things.
I'm sure we could think of any number of responses to challenges. But what if we tried something else? We might change the way we do things. Instead of fretting about so many people not hearing the first sermon in a pretty significant series we could put it on line and allow people to experience the word in another way!
You are going to face various challenges this week. There will be something at work, school or somewhere in your life that is not anticipated. You are going to be tempted to express frustration. You will be tempted to make excuses.
You have expectations for this week. You have expectations for your life - your family - your job. We are filled with expectations. Then something happens that was not expected. Snow falls, jobs are lost, kids disappoint, we goof something up.
Rather than yield to frustration or make excuses what if we surveyed what we have and set out to maximize our opportunities? You see, God is faithful and refuses to forsake us. Our God is one who makes our path clear. Our God is to be trusted.
As a matter of fact this adventuresome God we love and serve may have something better in store for us than what we had anticipated in the first place.
I watch it continue to snow. I'm not sure what morning will bring. But God has some great ideas and is eager to share them with us. Listen for the voice of God - Watch for God's hand of grace. Trust in the Lord.
I choose to say this has been a good day. I hope you see the good in your day.
blessings.
steve
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Oh, wow. There is no doubt in mind just who is in control of my life. When I try to take the reins, I find myself sitting on a runaway horse, and hanging on for dear life. In crisis, I hum the hymn tune....."Trust and Obey, for there's no other way." It helps.
Let it snow!
Post a Comment