2-20-2020

Good Morning All, 

    2 Corinthians 12:9; “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me”.

    It seems like yesterday.  It was a while ago, but it seems like yesterday and it was a very frustrating day.  I had horrific troubles with sending out the devotion.  Some of you may have not gotten it.  Some of you may have gotten two or three.  So, I took the morning and went to my favorite tech guru (she was gone but the next gal was nice) but their advice was flat.

    They signed me up for a new provider. (Sigh) So I came home and began to process to the new account.  I had no way to import the addresses, so I had to enter each one, one at a time.  When I got done them all entered, I couldn’t get the new addresses to go into files in order to mail multiple emails.  By the time I quit (not done), it still wasn’t working properly.  I resigned to my fate and went and taught Confirmation class, a little surlier than I should have been.

    I don’t think there is anything more humbling than when things don’t work the way we expect them to.  Robert Burns once wrote “The best laid schemes of mice and men, go often awry,” I know that feeling well.  It is at these times, times when I really feel like throwing up my hands, when God really speaks to me.  No matter how good I think I am or how much the world will miss me when I am gone, it is never my success but God’s action working through me. 

    It is amazing how often these “wake ups” occur after you have been puffed up.  Does this mean that God “zaps” you every so often; I don’t think so.  It is more that when you are humbled, you realize your weaknesses and your failures.  You see your weaknesses and, by God’s grace; you see God’s power.

    If you really step back and look you can often see God’s hand in your life.  Sometimes it takes a few years to really see it, but it is there.  We can look back and see God’s hand in friends who were there.  We see family members who helped shape our life experiences.  We see God’s hand as we look back and can smile because it was there.

   We can look forward with confidence that God’s hand will be there tomorrow as well.  We may not fully see it right away but when we truly need it the most; God’s grace is and will be there.  At our greatest weakness, whether illness, death, family breakdowns, financial struggles or whatever it is; God’s grace will ultimately pull us through.  In our weakness God’s strength will always show through.

Dearest Father, even when we think we are strong, we are weak and completely dependent upon your grace to live, to thrive, to flourish.  It is your wonderful mercy that keeps us going even when we don’t see it.  Be with those who feel only their weakness.  Show them the power of your loving kindness.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret