8-14-2024

Good Morning All,

      Matthew 10:30; “But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.”

    In France it was “Les Z'amours”.  In Italy it was “Cari genitori”.  We used to watch it as “The Newlywed Game.”  It was a TV game show that pitted three newlywed couples against each other to see who knew more about their respective spouses.  The winner usually got new appliances.  The early versions were far tamer than the later versions were.  Yet it is a novel idea and often some variation of this game is played at parties around the world.  How well do you know your spouse?  How well do you know your children?  How well do you know anyone?

    There are those who claim to know exactly what someone else is thinking or needing.  It is interesting to watch such a claim.  Sometimes it is not too difficult, on a hot summer day, most of us could use a cold drink of water.  In the depths of a cold winter night hot cocoa goes a long way.  Yet at most other times, it is difficult to really know what the other person needs or wants.  Do they want to talk?  Do they want to be left alone?  Do they want coffee or something else to drink?  Are they hungry?  We don’t really know.  If they don’t tell us we just don’t really know.  This also assumes that they even truly know what they need.  Sometimes we truly don’t know what we need.  We have no idea what we need; we are sometimes so lost that we are completely clueless.

    This is what makes God’s knowledge about us so amazing.  He even knows how many hairs are on your head.  He knows you completely, inside, and out.  He knows your needs even before you know.  How can that be?  How can anyone know that; yet we know it is true, even if we can’t comprehend it. 

    The truly wondrous part is not that God just knows; because of his love for you he uses his knowledge and wisdom to provide for you.  He acts toward you with compassion in his heart.  He uses this knowledge to bring you comfort and to give you peace.  Because of his great love, eternal and undying, he seeks to comfort you, to provide for you and to give you eternal life.  This is done through the all availing sacrifice of Jesus.  This is done to reconcile us back to him.  He knows you better than you know yourself.  He knows you better than anyone else ever can.  So, he calls us to have faith; to trust in his ways and in his will to be the best path for us.

    This can be tough because the world and our sinful nature will usually have a different opinion.  Yet in his mercy, he seeks to give us the love which he has for us and to give us peace and comfort that the world cannot give.  His love for us never ends; this we can trust forever.

    Father of all mercy, you give us your wondrous gift of love.  Through your wonderful mercy, we have hope.  Be with those who are struggling today.  Be with those who have needs so great that they cannot begin to understand.  Give them your Spirit of comfort and of hope.  Give them your Spirit of patience and perseverance.  Guide us to be your physical agent in their life.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret