5-18-2022

 Good Morning!

     Hebrews 13:5; “Be happy with what you have because God has said, “I will never abandon you or leave you.”

    I know I show my age with this, but the TV show “MASH” is one of my favorite shows. It offers some good bits of wisdom every so often. I was always fascinated by how the main characters evolved through the years. Major Houlihan went from a ditzy bimbo to a highly skilled and compassionate nurse. Hawkeye went from a gold-plated womanizer to an early version of the “equal rights” man. I found the change in Father Mulcahy to be the most interesting. He went from being a bumbling incompetent person to being a highly compassionate and very wise. His observations were always timely and worth hearing. Radar seemed to grow up and went from a goofy kid to a major component of the operation of the unit.

    One of the segments that I remember best is the one where Radar’s widowed mother started dating again. He was nervous and asked Hawkeye for his advice. Hawkeye told him how when his widower father started to see a woman, Hawkeye made them miserable, and the woman left and now his father was still all alone. Hawkeye offered this observation, “Loneliness is everything it is cracked up to be.”

    I don’t know why that line stays with me. I think it has to do with the fact that man was created to be a creature of relationships.  We were created to have a very close relationship with God. Adam and God used to walk in the garden in the cool of the morning; now that would be an experience. Man was also created to have a loving and caring relationship with each other as well. Sadly, sin ruined all this.

    We desire to be in a relationship, but sin warps our view of this relationship. How many times do we hear someone say something and then misread the message? How often do we perceive something completely wrong? We really do this when we look at our relationship with God. The devil and our sinful self tell us that God is a “no fun” guy who only makes rules that we can’t keep in order to punish us. The truth is that God’s will is what is best for us and will restore us to the type of life that will truly make us content.

    God is always with us even when we don’t feel it. It is our own selfishness that causes our loneliness from God. We turn from God not the other way around. God continually seeks us out trying to bring us back into his flock. We are hounded by his goodness and mercy constantly driving us back to his grace. We only need to surrender and trust in his love for us. When we stop fighting, we will stop being lonely.

Gracious Lord, I often feel all alone. Yet I know that you are with me; you bring me comfort and hope. Strengthen me with your grace that I may live in your family and in harmony with my fellow brothers and sisters. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret