11-11-2017

Good Morning All,

       Psalm 86:1; “Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.”

    I must make a confession; I get a little frustrated when I hear people say, “I have tried everything else, I guess all that is left is prayer.”  I must admit that this is somewhat frustrating to listen to because prayer should never be the last thing we turn to but it should be the first.  But if I am honest and admit that I, a poor, sinful creature, have had those same thoughts at different times in my life.  I have struggled with events and trials and put all my skill and know how to work to resolve the situation only to be frustrated by things and events beyond my control.  I can’t control the weather or how other people will act or react to a situation.  As I look at the situation, I find that there is actually very little that I can control and when I finally realize this; I pray.

    I have heard some people say that God never gives you more than you can handle.  Personally, I don’t really agree with this idea.  If God didn’t give more than I could handle, I wouldn’t really need prayer.  I could simply sit down, reason out what must occur and figure out the problem.  It would be much like a chess match where I planned my moves and I accomplished what has occurred.  I could reach a point where I do not need God.  But of course that never occurs; I always need God.

    It is when I sit and think, plan, calculate, delve into the inner working and come up lost or short; it is at those times when I truly realize that I am poor and needy.  It is at times when I am looking at events and situations that leave me saying, “I haven’t got a clue” that I truly see that my only hope is God.  It is at this time that I remember to “call upon my Name and I rescue you” this is when God reveals his love for me.

    God doesn’t always reveal the answer, at least the one I wanted when I started, but what he does reveal is his love for me.  It might take a little while for my sinful human mind to see it but God’s love is there.  It might be hidden in the gentle refusal or in the harsh rejection but it is there.  God will hear you and he will answer you in his time.  We need to trust and we need to wait, wait for the Lord.  He has promised to deliver us from the devil and his attacks.  We have his promise to bring us into the kingdom of God through our baptism.  Being part of this kingdom lets us come before his throne of mercy and giving to us the promise of God listening, hearing and answering our prayers.  Waiting to pray only prolongs our pain and discomfort.  Trust in God to hear and to answer your prayers.

Father, you hear us when we cry. You hear us even when we are slow to call upon your name.  In your mercy, you show your patience and loving kindness in our slowness to learn.  Move me by your Spirit to call upon your Name daily both with cries of despair and shouts of thanksgiving.  In you is our hope, in you is our life.  In the precious name of Jesus our risen Savior we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret