1-17-2017

Good Morning All,

        Romans 5:4; “and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,”

       When I coached teener baseball, I used to coach in a style that would drive the mothers of the players crazy.  I would never “protect” the player.  If it was the bottom of the last inning and there were two outs and the winning run on base and the youngest player on the team is up to bat; he batted.  If he was pitching’ he kept pitching.  I would not pull them and put an older player in his place.  The parents, especially the mothers, were frantic.  They would cover their eyes, they would hold their breath, they would pace away from game.  It didn’t matter; I would let the player have his chance.  I did this for one reason; it was to test the character of the player.  It was to find out who the “gamers” were.  A gamer is the kind of player who wants to play in that situation.  A player who shies away will almost always struggle to succeed.  I wanted to know who I could count on and who would crumble.

    Sometimes the first year player would crumble but eventually, by the time they were in their last year, they wanted to play and were successful.  They would endure they experience and come to grow in mental and emotional toughness and be able to handle the situation.  The test of the game was never about winning or losing the game; it was about developing the strength of character in those young men.  It was to test them to see if they would rely on their skill or fall victim to their emotions.  The tests of life reveal to us where we place our confidence; where we place our hope.

     Our life is built this way; where do you place your trust, your hope?  Where is your god?  For many it might be their own skill, for some it is money, for some it is family, for some it is the government; many people look to places where they place their trust, their hope.  In what is an amazing occurrence, God can strip all those false gods away.  While this may seem to be tearing down, God is really building up our endurance, our character.  As we face these events, we see the failure of our falsehoods.  Skills can deteriorate over time.  Money cannot buy everything.  Our family may disappoint or be gone or just unable to fix the trouble.  The government can prove to be unreliable when most needed. 

    Through all of our life events, God reveals what our true hope is, where we should place our confidence.  In each of these trials, only God remains as our true hope.  So as we endure life, with its struggles, battles and trials; only God stands as our source of hope.  As our trust in God as our hope and salvation, our confidence grows and our character, the ability to stand firm in the face of challenges, grows because our faith, our hope, rests in Jesus.

Gracious Father, keep me mindful that your love and grace is our only source of comfort and hope.  Strengthen our faith and enrich our spirit that we may always trust in you as our rock and our fortress.  Be with those who struggle mightily at this time.  Bring them to your comforting arms.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret