A group of readers of this blog have been joining me for a bible study. It is a digital deal with people from various locations. Last year we jumped around and just looked at different passages, with the underlying theme of courage.
This year we are studying Romans.
If you are interested in joining it isn’t too late yet. You can email me at roberta.davis@silverword.ca for more information.
We hiked a lot when I was a child. Mostly in Jasper. I am no stranger to wandering around in the bush and I know how easy it is to get disoriented.
Several years ago, we were in the Nakusp region. We were wandering around in a very dense section of bush. I was completely overwhelmed. The forest I was used to had some undergrowth, but nothing major. The high altitudes and extreme temperatures worked against dense flora and fauna in the Jasper region. But this was not the case in Nakusp. The trees were even taller too.
I had a general idea that we were headed in the right direction, but I wasn’t sure if we were angling off. As I looked up, I saw a bit more sky off to my right. I remembered there was a clearing that we passed through. With my eyes high I wandered towards this light spot. In time and a few scrapes and bashes we came to the clearing. I heaved a sigh of relief. My instincts had proven correct.
It is not a nice feeling to be lost. It’s even worse when we feel emotionally or spiritually lost. But take heart you don’t have to find the way out yourself. You need to look up and wait. The great shepherd is looking for you. He promised he’d come for you.
Matthew 18: 12 – 14 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.
We want to encourage others who are struggling. We want to give them hope, a kind word or gesture. There is a danger in this. Sometimes when we can’t think of anything to say we resort to platitudes like, ‘God never gives anyone more than they can handle.’
I understand why people say this, but it isn’t true. Sometimes people are faced with situations that are by definition way more than they can handle. This is the point. We need to turn these problems over to God. What we can’t do, he can. It isn’t our toughness that gets us through struggles, it is reliance on God. Sometimes his ways are a mystery to us, and the pain of the journey can be extreme. But we are safer in His care than we are managing it on our own.
2 Corinthians 1: 8-11 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
I was not a worrier when I was young. I had endless confidence in God’s guidance. I felt anxious about the future sometimes, but not to a point where I would consider it consistent worry.
After suffering many blows from life and having to face difficulties, I now worry. I will worry about the most outlandish things. I expect bad things to happen.
My friends, some Christian and some not, who buy into the new age teachings tell me that by expecting bad things I invite these sufferings into my world. That if I had positive energy and positive focus bad things wouldn’t happen. That is not only rubbish, but it also puts the responsibility for the bad things on the person suffering them. It is victim blaming.
No, I don’t need to channel my positivity to dig my way out of a worry pit. I need to read what Jesus said. I need to focus on His words. I need to trust God.
Matthew 6: 28-34 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Sorry for my absence. I’m sitting here, listening to instrumental hymns and wondering what I can say for myself.
I have been tired. Life can wear us down sometimes. It doesn’t help to dwell on the negatives and I am determined to start writing again.
For the moment a flute sweetly playing the tune to the Old Rugged Cross in the background is my inspiration. That really is all we do need to focus on – the cross. The most undistinguished and yet transformational moment in all of history. No act that any human has ever committed has ever had the impact of this one act by Jesus.
Be it Napoleon, Genghis Kahn, Alexander the great – no one has ever transformed the lives of the future generations the way Jesus did. The grass and trees grow over the sights of great battles. The world goes on spinning and moving at the halls of monumental movements.
But Christ did something in that moment of defeat and suffering. He offered hope. He bridged the gap between God and man and created a hope beyond what we see before us here on earth.
Join me and dwell on ‘That Old Rugged Cross.’
Roberta Writes 