1-22-2019

Good Morning All,

     Genesis 18:14a: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”

    A young mother apologized after service the other day because her baby “squawked and squealed” a little too loudly for her.  She was embarrassed and felt bad.  I told her a quiet church is a dying church.  It is fascinating for me to watch as these children grow.  Soon enough this little one will be crawling, then walking and before we know it; she will be in school.  She will learn English and math, science and civics.   

    Some of this will come easy but some will come a little harder.  That is how life works.  Sometimes learning is a hard thing to do.  There are some things that we can only learn “the hard way.” While learning can be tough; experiencing life can be even harder.  Sometimes, there are things so hard, we can’t do them.

     I have watched some people as they make some incredibly hard decisions on their lives.  When the doctor tells them that they have done all the can for their loved one.  He is only alive because of the ventilator; how do you decide?  Sometimes, a loved one may never understand or accept the consequences of what he does; it might be time for “tough love” but how do you know when to push back?  You are trying to deal with the emotions of a family where all want something different; how do you keep them talking to each other?  Sometimes the hardest things we face seem to have no good answer.

    Living in a sinful and corrupted creation causes us incredible amount of pain and anguish.  One of the devil’s favorite tools to deceive us with is doubt and he uses it whenever and wherever he can.  He will try to make you doubt every decision you make.  He will try and make you doubt everything you are told.  He will try and make you to doubt everyone that you know.  Through this doubt, he attempts to isolate you and then torment you with those increasing doubts.  He tries to make it hard for our decisions.  He does this by causing us to doubt God’s love.

  While we face many troubles, there is nothing too hard for God.  We can only struggle with our decisions but if we make them in faith; we must trust God.  We try to make our decisions in a manner that respects God’s will and Word, even when we cannot always see the clear answer.  His desire for us is to love us.  We are always his dear, redeemed children.  So as life throws us the most difficult decisions, we know that through them all; God loves us and wants us to know this love is real.  His grace will carry us through.

Gracious Father, in your mercy nothing is hard for you.  All of our needs are met by you.  As we face the difficult times, give us your Spirit of comfort and peace.  Lead us in the path that you choose.  Give us comfort to always look to you for guidance and forgiveness.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray.  Amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret