October 4, 2022
Friends,
What are you up against? What is wearing on you? What weights and sins cling to you?
Do not think that your trouble is just the stuff of life. Don’t let the devil tell you that it’s all just so many unsolvable problems, that this world is just a mess and you shouldn’t expect any blessings or joy.
The devil always speaks in partial truths. Here’s where he’s wrong: Although the world is a mess and full of trouble, although you should not be surprised at trials and tribulations, you should also expect that, in the midst of it all, God will deliver blessings and joy. More than that, you should insist that God deliver blessings and joy. After all, that’s what he has promised you.
Granted, his blessings and joy are not like worldly blessings and joy. That’s true. But they’re also better. They endure. They are true. No moth or rust can destroy them, and thieves cannot break in and steal them.
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
The LORD is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.
It is good for a man that he bear
the yoke in his youth.
Let him sit alone in silence
when it is laid on him;
let him put his mouth in the dust–
there may yet be hope;
let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
and let him be filled with insults.
For the Lord will not
cast off forever,
but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
for he does not afflict from his heart
or grieve the children of men (Lam. 3:22-33).
The only question is if we’ll believe it. Do you believe that God loves you and intends good for you?
That is to say, the only question is: does God really mean it? Did he really love you in this way: giving up his Son to die for you? “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).
Forget for a minute everything you think you’ve figured out about life. Set it all aside. Forget your rationalizations and justifications and excuses. Forget your dilemmas and crises and uncertainty. Forget your guilt and shame and fear. Set aside all your attempts to make sense of it, and just try to reckon with this for a minute: God is merciful to you, a sinner. God is kind to the ungrateful and evil. God spent everything he had to save you from yourself. When God brings you low, it is so that he can raise you up. When he makes you weak and powerless, it is so that he can be your strength and might. When he tears down your defenses, it is so that he can be your refuge.
There are always rough waters ahead. But do not be dismayed! Be courageous and confident! Christ is with you! And each day he prepares new mercies for you.
God bless and keep you,
Pr. Buchs
COMING EVENTS:
Family Night – Wednesday, October 12 @ 5:30pm
Elders’/Council Meetings – Thursday, October 13 @ 6 & 7pm
Women’s Bible Study – Wednesday, October 26 @ 6pm
Men’s Bible Study – Wednesday, October 26 @ 8pm