11-15-2021

 Good Morning All!

   Psalm 107: 19-20 “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them and delivered them from their destruction.”

     Some people never seem to have any problem fitting in. They seem to be the center of the crowd and at ease in any discussion.  They were the class president in school, or the captain of the team, or the homecoming queen or the top student in the class. But then there are the rest of us.

    Most of us have at times felt like an outsider looking in. We have felt odd, different from everyone else and felt that everyone else was aware of our difference. I remember two stories from my college years that really show this to be true.

    The first was a guy named Ahmed. Ahmed was the first Middle Eastern guy I met. He was a nice quiet guy, kind of shy and going to school to learn English and then go back and teach in his home country.  Unfortunately, Ahmed had two strikes against him, the year was 1979 and Ahmed was from Iran. By November, the “Iranian Hostage Crisis” was going strong and foolish college students were calling for the destruction of Iran and all Iranians. Ahmed felt out of place and not wanted.

     The second was a girl who experienced panic attacks. She had to wear a heart monitor and if it went off, she had to call the hospital. Again, remember this was the late 1970’s; microchip was a buzz word no one used. The monitor was bulky, and the phone call was from a real phone not a cell phone. So, if it went off, quite a few knew it and then she would leave class and call t. hospital. Not exactly inconspicuous; add that to the fact that they were not finding anything and a couple of her “friends” hinted it was “all in her head” and this occurred in “Abnormal Psychology;” painfully ironic. You could see the pain and fear in her eyes when it went off and deep down you wondered if this thing was only making matters worse. If her attacks were stress related; it would be like throwing a brick to a drowning man.

    Ahmed went to Canada; he could not go back to Iran and his family felt “uncomfortable” here. The girl ended up with a thyroid condition which stress and anxiety made worse. You and I can probably relate. There are times when we feel this pain and distress. Ours may be from a relationship strain, job strain or unease in social situations. We see them all the time. All of a sudden, our co-workers are a lot younger, smarter and better than we are.  Maybe you find yourself without a partner for the first time in 30 or 40 or 50 years; now what.

    Whatever it is that causes us our distress, God will deliver us. Notice the line “he sent out his word and healed them” that word is Jesus and he healed us by his passion. Through Jesus we are healed, made whole by his blood; restored to God’s family where we experience all of his love, grace and mercy.  We will still have those times when we think we stick out like a sore thumb; but we are among God’s redeemed children, and he will lead us through; holding us close no matter what the situation.

    So, as we face all those battles and all those struggles, we cling to God; we cling to his promises, and we cling to him in hope. Even if we feel like we are the only one afflicted, God speaks his words of comfort to us and gives to us his holy rest and comfort.

Gracious Lord, we cry, and you hear, we are in distress, and you respond to us with your love and patience. Teach us that there is nothing in this world which can separate us from the love which you have for us. In your precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret