4-28-2015

 Good Morning All!!

           Psalm 123:2; “Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us.”

     I am starting to hear it more and more with a little bit of tension in the voice; “Preacher, you better start praying for rain.”  We are dry in our region.  We had very little moisture last fall, virtually no snow this past winter and the few shower chances we have had have given precious little rain.  We planted some flowers yesterday and the ground was dry as deep as the shovel went.  We are warm and windy, not a good combination when the land is dry.  “Preacher, you better start praying for rain.”

    I never know how to take that phrase.  I do not make it rain and my prayers are of no greater value than anyone else’s either.  Yet it also points to a greater truth; we know that we live in God’s mercy.  Sometimes we might lose sight of it but we usually get shaken up at some point by something.  It might be a health scare or a sudden change in a relationship that can cause us to notice life.  Yet it often takes something in nature, a volcano, an earthquake, a drought; these all point to one thing that is very plain.  We cannot change the way the climate or the earth affects us.  We see it as overwhelming; beyond anything that we can ever deal with or change.

       The thing we need to remember is that we do not have to wait until we feel desperate in order to pray.  We do not have to wait until things are beyond our control or understanding to pray, in fact, we should pray at all times.  If we are engaged in a regular and honest prayer life, we will know who is in control of events and we will know who to trust when the issues arise.  We will look to God, our benevolent father, for the strength to face the challenges of life.  It might not rain as soon as you desire but we know that our comfort comes from God’s grace.  His mercy is with us every day; he never abandons us.

    Every day we face a choice; we can cling to God and his loving promise or we can go off and face the world on our own.  We can cling tightly to the God who is holding us in his arms or we can try and flail and throw ourself to the ground and face the world on our own terms.  We can battle and try and cope with a drought or a death on our own.  We can carry the uncertainty and the fear that can arise from not knowing what happens tomorrow or the day after that.  We can try but we will fail.

    God invites you to trust in his promise and to believe in the mercy that he has shown us over and over.  God is there for us and prayer, true and honest prayer, will help us to remember this promised blessing.  True prayer will relieve our fear and bring us the peace from knowing that, no matter what happens, we rest in God’s unchanging grace.

Father, we look to you for all our needs.  Give us the comfort of your Spirit and keep us in your loving arms.  Move me to want to cling to you.  Mold me to always see that your grace is sufficient for me.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen king we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret