11-18-2016

 Good Morning All,

                   Isaiah 4:6; “There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.”

     We are experiencing our first winter storm.  We are expecting 4+ inches of snow and winds of 40+ miles per hour; visibility will be tough.  The roads will be slick and many schools started late or called off last night already.  The newscasts went through the perfunctory reporting about having a winter survival kit in your car and how you should have over a half of tank of gas, fully charged cell phone and always checking the road reports if you must travel.

    Storms can be scary.  I can recall some where you would be in a white out condition and become disoriented and not sure which direction you were traveling.  When this happens you really need to stop and wait for it to clear a little but it is hard because it might get worse before it gets better.  Sometimes you get caught in a storm when it comes up suddenly but sometimes you make poor decisions and are in trouble.  In South Dakota, if you travel after a “no travel” advisory is issued and you get in trouble and need the police or county snowplows to rescue you; you can be sent a bill for the expenses incurred.  The message being stay home where it is safe.

    Our life has many storms in it as well.  There are times when events and situations overtake us and leave us not knowing which direction we are facing.  Whether you are the person who has just been told you have cancer, or that your spouse does, or that you have lost your job or that you find yourself estranged from a parent or child or sibling or any of a myriad of other events or combination of events; we can feel snowed under with no shovel in sight.  It can knock us down and not let up.  We may even feel penalized for what we are experiencing.  We might feel ostracized or demeaned, belittled, ignored, marginalized and empty.  It doesn’t take long before we can feel completely destroyed.

    This is what Jesus came to heal.  We have a shelter in the storm.  We are sheltered by his love and grace.  We are sheltered in his loving arms which embrace us with the perfect love.  Even if we make wrong choices and are in a storm of our own making; God’s love is there and will prevail.  We have his promise of salvation.  We will have storms in our lives, just as sure as South Dakota will have snowstorms.  It is part of the way life goes.  Yet these storms do not define who we are nor do they influence or affect our salvation.  We are God’s redeemed children and we have his grace and truth to cling to. The words of love “always with you”; He spoke to you.  We are the redeemed who have shelter from the storm and a place of refuge to keep us safe.

Father, your love protects us from the savage storms of life.  Keep us safe in your loving arms.  Give us your grace that we may be fed and nourished by your great mercy.  Defend us until the storms are past.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret