10-2-2022

Good Morning All,

         John 3:16; “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

     It is one of the hardest decisions we ever have to make.  It is one of the hardest decisions to counsel someone about.  It is the decision to give up on someone, at least for a while.  Sometimes it might be a parent who has a child that is a drug addict or an alcoholic.  He never seems to have a job.  Maybe he has been arrested a few times.  Maybe he even went through the detox program a couple of times, but nothing seems to work.  It is tough on parents to deal with this.  Few things age a person like this does.  Each phone call, you wonder; is he dead or in jail or involved in some drug deal that went bad; what happened?  It hurts to watch them struggle but sometimes you have to let them go.  You have to let them suffer the consequences of their actions.  You shield and shield them, but you are slowly losing your own sanity.  You are suffering more than they are, so you have to let go.

   It might be a spouse who stopped working on keeping the marriage going.  They stopped saying, “I love you” a long time ago.  They barely acknowledge you even exist.  They have started to attack you with verbal assaults that cut you to the core.  They have left the marriage in every way except they have an occasional presence in the house.  You have tried and tried.  You have asked that they go to counseling with you.  You have asked what is wrong and now you hear rumors they are spending time with someone else.  Maybe you have even found hotel receipts and you are distraught and shot emotionally.  You are exhausted and completely lost; you have to give up before you lose your sanity.  You have to walk away and let things heal and start over later.

    These and a few more like them are extreme events that hurt us so deeply.  Maybe you have been through these or maybe you know someone who has.  It is tough and it ages us quickly but at some point, in time we have to give up.  That is what makes what God does for us so incredibly special.  God never gave up on us.  We were the unfaithful spouse; we went chasing after other gods and denying the true God and living as if he didn’t matter.  We were the delinquent child, taking whatever God gave to us and destroying it by seeking only our own physical pleasure.  You and I are that child; you and I are that spouse.  Anyone would have given up on us a long time ago, but God does not.  God’s perfect love, the perfect sacrificial love, would not allow him to give up on us.  God’s perfect love moves him to seek us out no matter were.  Most of us would not chase a child to those places or a spouse to those places but God does.  God came to this wicked world to save us because he loves us.  We all know how far we would go for the love of a child and yet God exceeds the distance that we would ever go.  That is the kind of love he has for us; it knows no end!

Father, your love for me goes beyond anything I can ever imagine.  You keep me safe from the devil’s arrows and when I lose my way, you come to me and call me back.  Be with those who are struggling with their personal relationships.  Give them strength and courage; remind them that you never fail them.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret