Good Morning All,
Psalm
34:18; “The Lord is near to those whose hearts are humble. He saves those whose spirits are crushed.”
Sometimes life goes relatively
smoothly. We coast through the days,
happy as most things go according either to our plans or our desires. We often don’t think too much when things go
well.
But when we face trouble, we often see
things differently. We usually start to
wonder what we did wrong to deserve this trouble. We sometimes wonder if we are the only ones
who are being afflicted. We see pain in
our family; we are restless and unable to sleep. All the time we struggle with why. Why is this happening and why God isn’t
fixing it?
One of the big problems that we have in
our lives, and in this country especially, is that we think only of our
selves. We see our problems as above and
beyond anyone else’s. We somehow think
that since we have been so incredibly blessed for so long that we are somehow
entitled to those blessings. The truth
is we are no better than anyone else. We
are all sinners and deserve death.
BUT,
God in his mercy, has chosen to save us.
He has redeemed us from the devil and the power of sin and called us to
be his children. He has given us
salvation and He has given us the tools to survive under him in his
kingdom. He gives us his Word through
which He speaks His Words of love and forgiveness. He gives us His holy sacraments; the water
connected to the Word to cleanse us and His precious body and blood to refresh
us and renew us. He also gives us the
power and gift of prayer.
Notice our verse “The Lord is near to those
whose hearts are humble.” We never walk alone; we never face the trials and
struggles of this life alone. God is
always with us. Jesus experienced
everything which we have or will and he conquered it for us. We can confidently and boldly go to Him in
prayer and He will hear our cry and He will save us. How God chooses to do this is a mystery to
us. Yet we can have confidence in a God
that saved us from the devil with the incredible price of His Son dying on a
cross to protect and defend us.
We may face health issues that are life
altering or require surgery. We may see
our job teetering on the brink of disappearing.
We may watch our land dry up and blow away. We may see our whole country collapse under
the weight of too many problems and too few answers. We may see it all but we know that as God’s
people He will rescue us from eternal damnation and give us hope and comfort
when all other supports fail around us.
Go to God in prayer. Go to him in
earnest, sincere prayer and He will answer you.
In the Book of James, we read that “we do not have, because we do not
ask.” Make daily prayer part of your
life. Go to Him in faith, confessing our
sins, thanksgiving for the gifts we have and for the needs which we have. He has promised to answer; He has promised to
be near and to incline his ear to you and to listen to you and to give you his
comfort and peace. Speak to the Lord for
He is listening.
Dear gracious Lord, your holy will is truly
accomplished without us but you have called upon your people to pray to you and
to ask for your blessings. Father we
pray for all those who are hurting and lost.
We ask that you comfort them and sustain them. We look around and see all the blessing that
we have and we give you thanks for them especially for the grace which we
receive from you through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus in whose
name we pray. Amen
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret 
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