trust

Dec

2021

Living in hope (though life is difficult)

We wait for the Lord — hopefully, patiently, responsibly

Message for 3rd Sunday of Advent
by David Sellnow

Readings for the day: Zephaniah 3:14-20, Philippians 4:4-7, Luke 3:7-18

Stephanie grew up under the weight of demanding, overbearing parents. Their way was always the right way, and their children were going to toe the line and become obedient, upstanding, model citizens. Stephanie’s older sister fit the model perfectly. At the strict religious school their parents enrolled them in, Stephanie’s sister got all A’s and was considered the impeccable child. Stephanie lived in her sister’s shadow, got mostly C’s, and was seen as far less than ideal. Later in life, Stephanie gave up on church, because the sternness of the church in which she was raised made her feel that who she was and how she was always was wrong. Her parents were mortified when she stopped going to church, and they distanced themselves more and more from her. Stephanie lived her life, but she lived with a sense of shame, felt like an outcast from her family, and was haunted by a lingering sense of judgment looming over her.

Derrick had labored diligently year after year. He always had a job, sometimes a couple of jobs at a time. He would do whatever he could to keep shoes on his kids’ feet and food on the table. He didn’t give a lot of attention to his own needs, because he was too busy taking care of the needs of others. If he could do that, he was happy. Then one day, the manufacturing plant where Derrick worked shut down. He found himself out of work for the first time in his life. The town where he lived with his family was shrinking. Derrick was in his mid-50s. Finding a new job was no easy task. The bills began to pile up while Derrick kept applying for any and every position (but not getting hired). He told employers in the bigger city 40 miles away that he could commute. They looked at him skeptically when he got as far as getting an interview … and that’s as far as he ever got, it seemed. Derrick began to feel worthless to anyone and a failure to his family. When he started feeling fatigued and worn down physically, he figured it was all part of how generally low he was feeling. But the physical symptoms got worse and worse. He wouldn’t go to the doctor because he no longer had insurance. He eventually did go to the emergency room–when his wife, who had struggled by his side during the difficult months, found him collapsed on the floor and had to call an ambulance. Derrick’s life had gone from stability to disaster in a short span of time. He needed help. He needed health. He needed to find hope again somehow.

Those are just a couple of stories of shame, of judgment, of disability, of disaster. What is your story? What is your shame? What makes you feel weak and lame and hopeless and helpless? What are the judgments against you that make you feel like an outcast? What difficulties and disasters have you encountered? I’m not asking you to give those testimonials here in comments/replies to this blog post. I anticipate, though, that each of you has had (or now has or will have) tales you could tell of troubles and worries and woes. What do you do in the midst of your hurts and hardships and upheavals? Where do you turn?

Listen to the voice of a prophet calling out to you, telling you where to turn. Inspired by the Lord, Zephaniah said:

The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has turned away your enemies. … You shall fear disaster no more. … Do not let your hands grow weak. The Lord, your God, is in your midst. … He will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love. “I will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach for it. I will deal with all your oppressors. … I will save the lame and gather the outcast,and I will change their shame into praise. … I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” says the Lord (Zephaniah 3:14-20 selected verses).

You may be unfamiliar with the context of the times in which Zephaniah was writing. His ministry was, after all, over 26 centuries ago, around 630 BC (Christianity.com, Bible.org). Zephaniah’s ministry likely was very early in the reign of King Josiah. Josiah came to the throne as just a boy, and later in his career sought to institute religious reforms in the nation of Judah, because the people had lost track of the law of God (cf. 2 Kings 22, 23). But those reform attempts hadn’t happened yet. Zephaniah was speaking to a nation that had been living under God’s blessing for several hundred years and was growing distant in their hearts from God. They were worshiping other things, following other priorities, with individuals seeking their own advantage and ignoring their neighbor’s needs. Sound familiar? Sound a little like our own lives in our own times? Back in those Old Testament times, Josiah’s reforms were short-lived. A couple decades after Zephaniah, the prophet Jeremiah would be speaking out again, even more dramatically. When Zephaniah called for repentance and a return to God, regular, everyday people in Judah lived under the sway of the powerful and immoral in their own nation—and they were caught up in plenty of apostasy themselves. One commentator described the cultural context as a time “of great darkness … of violence and pain,” adding: “God never brings destruction to a place or a people that haven’t already destroyed themselves” (April Motl on Crosswalk.com). As Zephaniah (and later Jeremiah) foretold, there next would come a time when the regular, everyday people of God would live under the sway of other powerful nations and people, their fates held in the hands of first the Bablylonians and then the Medes and the Persians.

At the same time as Zephaniah prophesied impending judgment from God, however, he also gave the people a message of hope. When God judges or destroys, he does so “for the purpose of protecting or rebuilding” (April Motl on Crosswalk.com). The hope held out by Zephaniah would find some fulfillment when Judah was restored from captivity under Babylon and Persia. Hope would be fulfilled still more when the Messiah would come, when Jesus was born and brought new hope to this world. Hope will be fulfilled ultimately when Jesus comes again at the end of time, vindicating the faith of those who have continued to trust in him through all the pains and shames and sins and disasters of this life.

We are called to hope as the people in Zephaniah’s day were called to hope. That same call to hope was issued by the apostle Paul in New Testament times. When Paul wrote his letter of encouragement to the church in Philippi, he was being held imprisoned in Rome, and the Philippian church members were facing an array of troubles and persecutions. They had judgments against them. They had enemies. They were reproached. People in their community opposed and oppressed them. But, at the beginning of his letter, Paul told them, “[God] has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well—since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have” (Philippians 1:29,30). Many of our churches and church members today are facing struggles and challenges of their own. You may be feeling insecurity about where things are at right now, and much uncertainty about where things are headed in the future. But listen to the voice of Christ’s apostle calling out to you, telling you where to turn. Paul urges you, as he did the Philippians:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:4-7).

We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. But we do know what forever holds in store for us, through our hope in Christ. And so as we wait for Christ—for Christmas in this season and for Christ’s return to us at the end of days—we strive to live with hope in our hearts. We encourage one another to be hopeful, even when the circumstances in which we find ourselves look bleak. We wait for the Lord hopefully, hanging onto his promises as the gospel truth.

And we wait patiently … or at least try to be patient. We are, by nature, impatient people. We tend to want what we want and we want it now. If the package we ordered doesn’t arrive in a couple of days, we get irritated. If the trip to the store takes up too much time with too long of lines, we get irritated. If something we want for ourselves, for our house, for our farm or business, or for our church is not available to us right now or is out of reach of our budget or unrealistic in our present situation, we get irritated. We are impatient.

Life as it is, in the here and now, often doesn’t align with our ambitions or with the comfort and stability we want. Life is often painful and hard. Things don’t go our way. Things get in our way. Sickness interrupts health. Lack of resources limits our options. Other people don’t think the way we think they should think, or do what we want them to do. We turn from hopeful and happy to being frustrated and ornery. We may take out our frustrations against others, even those closest to us. Within our families and within our churches, each of us starts seeking our own interests rather than maintaining concern for one another and for the well-being of all. So we become less ethical, more self-centered in our own attitudes and behaviors.

Our impatience and frustrations lead us to become ungrateful, uncooperative, unyielding–all of which, of course, are the opposite of God’s call to us. We are called to “lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely and … run with perseverance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1). Only by keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus as the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2) can we stay on a path of rejoicing always, displaying gentleness to everyone, not worrying about things but maintaining thankfulness. It feels so impossible for us to live in such an attitude, but we are assured: “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard [our] hearts and … minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7).

So we strive to live hopefully and to live patiently–hoping in Christ and his promises, patient with each other as we face life’s challenges, and leaning on each other as brothers and sisters. Living such a life together as God’s people calls us to live honestly, ethically, responsibly with one another.

Listen to the call of another of God’s prophets, John the Baptist. When the crowds asked John, “What then should we do?” (Luke 3:10) …

In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” [When] tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” [John] said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages” (Luke 3:11-14).

You get John’s point. Be ethical. Be responsible. Be thinking of others, not just of yourselves. “Do to others as you would have them do to you,” as Jesus said (Luke 6:31). Treat everyone with respect and consideration and caring as you interact with one another. That is our calling in our communities, with every neighbor in our world. That is equally and especially our calling also within our churches, as we plan and work and do ministry together.

Many small and medium-size churches today are facing significant challenges as they seek to carry out ministry. A national survey of churches conducted just prior to COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 found that “half of the country’s estimated 350,000 religious congregations had 65 or fewer people in attendance on any given weekend … a drop of more than half from a median attendance level of 137 people in 2000” (Religious News Service, October 14, 2021). The pandemic has reduced worship attendance even further, standing now at about three-fourths of pre-pandemic levels as of August of this year (Baptist Standard, November 4, 2021).

Maybe the way you’re feeling about your own life or your congregational life these days is something like the feelings of Stephanie or Derrick (whom I described at the start of this message). Feeling like you’re the outcast, the down-and-out little sister, not as good as big churches somewhere else that seem to be flourishing. Feeling like you have labored and toiled and worked hard for many years, and now are up against challenges that have you searching desperately for resources and answers that are nowhere to be seen. Again, we don’t know what tomorrow will bring. We can’t cast our eyes into the near (or far) future here on earth and know exactly what plans the Lord is working out for us. But we do have his promise “that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). And we do know what forever holds in store for us, through our hope in Christ. And so as we wait for Christ—in this Christmas season and anticipating his return to us at the end of days—we will strive to live in dignity and love with one another. We will set our minds on thinking about things that are true and honorable and pure and pleasing (cf. Philippians 4:8), rejoicing in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4). And we will set our hands about whatever tasks we can take on–to advance our relationships with one another, our care for others in our communities, and our commitment to honoring Christ in everything we say and do.

Life on this earth is not easy. It was not easy in Zephaniah’s day, nor in the days of John the Baptist and the apostle Paul. It’s never easy. As Paul and his missionary companions said to the members of churches they had established, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22 NIV). But we have God’s promise that he doesn’t abandon us. So we will not abandon him in our hearts, but keep trusting and hoping and persevering. We will not abandon him in our actions, but keep loving and helping and befriending. This is the life to which we are called by the prophets and apostles. This is our calling in Christ. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). Amen.

Scripture quotations, except where indicated otherwise are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotation marked (NIV) taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Jan

2020

The Lord provides

Originally posted on The Electric Gospel on September 11, 2018.

The Lord provides for us

by David Sellnow

The following blog post is an excerpt from the book, The Lord Cares for Me, recently released through Amazon publishing. The book features stories that illustrate the truths of Psalm 23, and is written in easy-to-read vocabulary and style for readers of all ages and abilities. This excerpt follows “The story of Jake and Sally,” featured in chapter 1. All Bible quotations are from the New International Reader’s Version (NiRV).

If you do get a copy of the book, reviews posted on the Amazon website will be appreciated.

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The LORD is my shepherd. He gives me everything I need (Psalm 23:1).

When we are not connected to God, we are lost. When we are lost, what we need the most is for God to find us, to bring us back to him, the way a shepherd would look for a lost sheep.

Jesus is the one who connects us to God. He forgives us for what we’ve done wrong, because he gave up his life to pay for all the wrong things we did. He was given a death sentence like a criminal, but Jesus was not a criminal. And he was more than an ordinary man. He is God’s own Son. He had come down from heaven to live in our place on earth. And so after he was killed, he came back to life. And because of what he did, he promises us a whole new life. “Jesus was handed over to die for our sins. He was raised to life in order to make us right with God” (Romans 4:25). Being right with God is always what we need the most.

God does take care of our other needs too. Jesus told us not to worry, that our Father in heaven does care for us and will provide for us. Here’s what Jesus said:

“Don’t worry about your life and what you will eat or drink. And don’t worry about your body and what you will wear. Isn’t there more to life than eating? Aren’t there more important things for the body than clothes? Look at the birds of the air. They don’t plant or gather crops. … But your Father who is in heaven feeds them. Aren’t you worth much more than they are? … So don’t worry. Don’t say, ‘What will we eat?’ Or, ‘What will we drink?’ Or, ‘What will we wear?’ People who are ungodly run after all of those things. Your Father who is in heaven knows that you need them. But put God’s kingdom first. Do what he wants you to do. Then all of those things will also be given to you” (Matthew 6:25-33).

So God does promise to provide for his people. That doesn’t mean we will always have lots of money or things. Sometimes we may barely have enough. But God says he won’t abandon us. And he wants us to think about spiritual needs too, not just physical needs. He does not want us love money and things or to set our hearts on such things. He tells us, “Think about things that are in heaven. Don’t think about things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2).

If we think too much about money, we can cause ourselves trouble. The Bible says that people who want to get rich often wander away from faith in God (1 Timothy 6:10). Instead, we are urged to think this way: “You gain a lot when you live a godly life. But you must be happy with what you have. We didn’t bring anything into the world. We can’t take anything out of it. If we have food and clothing, we will be happy with that” (1 Timothy 6:6-8).

One of the ways God provides for us is through the help of others. When we are facing struggles in our lives, we may need to look to others for help. God calls on his people to help each other, to show love to each other. “So when we can do good to everyone, let us do it. Let us make a special point of doing good to those who belong to the family of believers” (Galatians 6:10).

What Psalm 23 says is true. The Lord is our shepherd. He gives us everything we need. He gives us a relationship with him, which is what our spirits need. And he makes sure the basics of daily bread and clothing are met, which is what our bodies need. And in the end, when the time comes that our bodies die, God promises to provide for us even then. “I am the resurrection and the life,” Jesus said. “Anyone who believes in me will live, even if he dies” (John 11:25). Jesus faced death and came back to life. He promises to give us the same ending to our life story. He really is the Lord who provides everything we need.

Jan

2020

When winter seems unending

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on April 7, 2018.

Always winter … but always Christmas and always Easter

by David Sellnow

Where I live, it seems like winter will never end. This week a record low temperature was set — in single digits. Waking up yesterday morning, the wind chill felt several degrees below zero. Tomorrow a snowstorm is predicted. And it’s April.There’s a line in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis, that comes to mind: “It is winter in Narnia,” said Mr. Tumnus, “and has been for ever so long … always winter, but never Christmas.” Life in the real world can seem very much like that so much of the time. Another way of describing life’s long, cold, dreariness was expressed by Moses many centuries ago: “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow” (Psalm 90:10).

Yet that message of sadness and pain is not the only word we have from God about our lives in this world. In reality, while our lives may feel like an endless winter, it is always Christmas for us, and always Easter. The meaning of Christmas was that God came into this world to share our pain, to take all our troubles onto himself. It was prophesied (Isaiah 7:14), “The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” [which means, “God with us”]. Christ entered into our existence and “took up our pain and bore our suffering. … The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4,5). Christ faced all the worst that this world has to offer and died for us. But “it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him” (Acts 2:24). Every Easter, we celebrate his resurrection from the grave and the life eternal we have through him. And resurrection hope is not just something that prompts us to put on springtime clothing and go to church on Easter Sunday. God’s mercy “has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3) — a hope that enables us to get up and face each day in the here and now, as well as having assurance of being with God in the hereafter.

It may indeed always be winter in the way our lives feel on this earth. But in Christ, it is always Christmas, for he is beside us as our Brother, born into humanity with us. And in Christ, it is always Easter, filled with hope and new life. Because he lives, we also will live (John 14:19).

Jan

2020

Forsaken … but not forsaken

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on April 27, 2018.

Forsaken … but not forsaken

by David Sellnow

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?” (Psalm 22:1).

David, who became king of Israel, wrote those words at some point in his life. We don’t know when David wrote Psalm 22, only that he sent it to the chief musician in Israel when he was king. We also know that there were plenty of times in David’s life when he might have said, “Trouble is near” and “there is no one to help” (Psalm 22:11).

Sometimes David’s troubles were through no fault of his own, such as when King Saul kept pursuing him, trying to kill him. David had dared to challenge an enemy no one else in Israel would challenge–Goliath of Gath, a gigantic warrior of the Philistines. Saul grew jealous of David and aimed to eliminate him. At one point, David wound up going into Philistine territory, to Gath itself, to get away from Saul. While there, the only way David could keep from being imprisoned or killed by the king of Gath was to feign insanity. David scribbled on the doors of the gate and let saliva drip down his beard. The king, Achish, said to his servants, “You see the man is insane. Why then have you brought him to me?” (1 Samuel 21:13,14).

Sometimes David’s troubles were the result of his own arrogance and sin, such as when he seduced the wife of one of his military men while that man was away at battle. David then saw to it that the man was killed, so that David could take Bathsheba (the wife) from him and make her his own. David’s soul was plagued and troubled until God’s prophet compelled him to confess his sin. (Cf. 2 Samuel 11-12.)

Other times David’s troubles were a combination of his own failures and the sins of others against him. His son Absalom mounted a conspiracy, trying to throw his father off the throne. David needed to wage a civil war against his own son. In the end, Absalom ended up dead and David struggled to bear such a tragedy. (Cf. 2 Samuel 15-19.)

In our lives too, there are times when we feel forsaken by God and alone in our despair and troubles. Sometimes it’s through no fault of our own; it’s just things that happen to us or acts by others done against us. Sometimes our aloneness and pain are caused by our own sins and shame, torturing our minds and hearts. Other times the anguish we face is a combination of our own failures and things done by others that hurt us further. We wonder where God is in all this. Our souls cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning? My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer” (Psalm 22:1,2). We keep crying out day and night, but find no rest.

We recognize, though, that the anguished cries of David’s psalm belongs to someone else even more than the thoughts belonged to David or than they belong to us. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Those words were uttered by Jesus, the Christ, as he hung on the cross. Jesus took on himself all our sins, all our troubles, all our agony, all our shame, and experienced the abandonment of God his own Father. He did so to atone for all our woes and guilt and hurt. Some elements of Psalm 22 point beyond anything David likely experienced, looking prophetically ahead to the sort of death Jesus died when he took our place under all the burdens of sin. “They have pierced my hands and feet,” the psalmist said (v.16), anticipating the crucifixion that the Messiah would suffer.

No matter what our sufferings in life and no matter why they occur–by our own fault or the fault of other sinners or simply the result of living in a sin-stained world–we can know one thing for sure. Jesus suffered as much and more than anything we are suffering. And Jesus suffered as he did for us, to give us hope in the face of suffering. Our hope, ultimately, is in Jesus, whether or not the circumstances of our daily lives get any easier. Though the Lord may bring us down “into the dust of death” (Psalm 22:15), he remains always our God from the time of our birth onward. “All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him” (Psalm 22:29). We can’t keep our own souls alive, but God will. And we will continue to serve him and proclaim his righteousness (Psalm 22:29-31).

Jan

2020

Confidence in God’s Promises

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on September 30, 2017.

Confidence in God’s promises

by Maggie Frey

Do you know any trustworthy people? Perhaps they will tell you something, and you can firmly believe that they are telling you the truth. Or, they may make a promise to you, and you know that they will fulfill that promise. On the other hand, maybe you know some untrustworthy persons. They may have a tendency to lie about things, so you have a hard time believing anything they are saying. They will make a promise to you, but are quick to break that promise. It is very difficult to work with such persons, because you never know if they are going to keep their word.

Unfortunately, we tend to know a lot more untrustworthy people than we do people who are trustworthy. The world is full of untrustworthy people, who try to get a grip on us, and laugh when we believe in whatever it is they tell us. It can make a person a little worried, because you never know if you are able to trust someone or not. This is the effect that sin has put on our world. Human beings’ actions are tainted with sin. We may have the intention of doing good, but we keep committing sin, because that’s what our human nature knows how to do.

However, as Christians, we know that there is one in whom we can confidently place our trust: God. He has kept all of his promises, and will continue to keep his promises—even ones that have not happened yet. God and his promises are revealed to us through the Holy Spirit, who has worked faith in our hearts, through the Scriptures. Our faith in God allows us to have a certainty that surpasses even the greatest earthly promise that could ever be made. The apostle Paul tells us of this certainty: “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day” (2 Timothy 1:12).

Paul could have written, “I know what I believe.” That would have shown that he was sure of his faith—the faith that is revealed through the message of the gospel. By saying ‘“I know whom I believe,” he has made his faith all the more personal. Faith now has something at its focus—the Lord God. God is the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). When we focus on God and his promises, our faith stands strong and secure.

In this world, there will still be a struggle to anyone’s word. We know that human promises will never be perfect in this life. There will continue to be lies and broken promises that will cause worry and doubt in. But we know that we can continually place our confidence in God, who has kept all promises to us in Christ, and will continue to keep all his promises to us. So while we continue our journey here on earth, we confidently say with Paul that we know whom we believe. We are confident that he will one day bring us home with him.

Jan

2020

God has it handled

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on September 19, 2017.

God has it handled

by Holly Bahr

Anxiety is a feeling of worry or uncontrollable nervousness when thinking or obsessing about an event or a situation where the outcome is uncertain. Anxiety disorders are the most common type of mental illness in the United States. According to Scott Stossel, author of My Age of Anxiety, “Forty million Americans have an anxiety disorder.” He goes on to report, “One in six people in the world will have an anxiety disorder for a minimum of a year within their lifetime, and one in four people will experience crippling anxiety some time in their life.” With these staggering statistics, one has to ask: Is the person sitting next to you in church suffering from anxiety? Have you felt the worry or fear of the unknown in your life? If you haven’t experienced the life-changing panic associated with anxiety, odds are someone worshiping with you suffers in this way. So, in the life of a Christian where trust in our Savior is first and foremost, what do we do with anxiety? We understand pain and suffering are part of our lives. We dive into God’s promises for strength—his gospel means of grace. Knowledge of life-giving rebirth we experienced through baptism and the forgiveness of sins received through the Lord’s Supper can ease the hurt of anxiety.

Even with God’s grace coming to us through the gospel in his Word, in baptism, and the Lord’s Supper, our human weakness gets in the way. The devil uses anxiety as a weapon causing us to doubt ourselves, our faith in God, and God’s power. We need the gospel to speak to our worries and strengthen our innermost being. God’s assurances to Joshua put down the devil and point us to the strength we develop through trust in God. “Have I not commanded you?” God said. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). When the panic of anxiety stubbornly takes hold of us, we look to the Lord for strength to overcome our worldly doubts.

The sacrament of baptism is a rebirth for us and a powerful reminder of the work of faith the Holy Spirit continues tirelessly to perform in our hearts. We may feel anxiety and worry, but we also know the Holy Spirit continues to nourish faith in us and connect us to our all-powerful God. Suffering from anxiety is a never ending cycle of negative self-talk and hopelessness, but remembering the benefits we receive through baptism can encourage us to switch from negative thoughts to the positive work the Holy Spirit does in our hearts.

Baptism started our faith life, and holy communion offers ongoing reminder of the peace we receive through the means of grace. Communion gives us forgiveness of sins, lifting the burden of anxiety off our shoulders and placing this burden on our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. God sent his Son to die for our sins, even the sin of worry and doubt. God’s forgiving love can lessen anxiety and comfort us from the fear of the unknown.

Anxiety is a real mental illness with debilitating symptoms, but with faith in God and his promises, along with professional help, this disease can be eased. God is our great healer. He has our future planned and will not let us fall into harm’s way. We look to the Lord for strength. We trust in his unfailing love for us. We seek his peace in regards to our fears and worries. “’Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High, will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust’” (Psalm 91:1-2). Instead of dwelling on the fear within us, we turn this gripping fear over to God and his promises. “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). Fear and worries will keep coming, keep changing. But we can find solace in the never-changing promises and all-encompassing love of our all-powerful God.

Dec

2019

Faith in God’s timing

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on October 2, 2016.

Faith in God’s timing

by Lauren Ewings

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. – Psalm 27:14

I used to consider myself a very impatient person. I would rush to finish others’ stories for them. Waiting in a line for a ride at an amusement park was absolute torture. Detailed storytellers were my worst nightmare.

Many times I found myself impatiently questioning God’s plan for me.

“This is not what I pictured my life to be like right now.” This is a phrase I oftentimes found myself thinking, while selfishly praying for companionship and becoming frustrated when it seemed like God wasn’t listening or answering. I know that sometimes my sinful expectations of prayer have been that God will answer quickly and he will answer the way I expect him to.

Many times during my early years of college, I expected the perfect man to be placed in my life, thinking, “God, don’t you know how happy this would make me? Don’t you understand that I don’t want to be single anymore?” My selfish prayers were heard … and although I didn’t see it at the time, they were answered as well. God did not answer with an immediate yes as I had hoped. Instead he answered with “not right now.”

Not until my senior year did I finally recognize God’s answer to my prayer. I was student teaching, living independently, miles away from many of my friends and my family, and things were okay. I discovered that going out by myself was enjoyable. I was able to explore the city without feeling the need to be in constant contact with others. I dug deeper into God’s Word and found comfort in his love.

A psalm of David (Psalm 27) reminds us to wait for the LORD, to trust in his plan for our lives, to have faith that he is always working for our good. Faith in God means faith in his timing. It may not always be easy to accept, but know that your prayer is not going unanswered. God is working for your good.

Prayer: Dear God, please help us remember to be patient. Help us remember that you hear our prayer, and that you always answer. Give us strength and comfort, and remind us of your everlasting love while we wait for you. Amen.

Dec

2019

Facing the future with hope

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on November 20, 2014.

Emily Shank wrote the following message as a devotion project for a theology class with me. She offers worthy reminders for all people of faith in Christ.

Trusting in God

by Emily Shank

We all have times when we wish we had a crystal ball, something which will show us what our future holds, what the outcomes of certain decisions would be. There are times in our life when we face changes which seem quiet scary, when we are worried about things going wrong. There are also many things in life which are out of our control and make us feel anxious. Yet, the Bible promises us that we can find rest in trusting God. How can that become a reality though? It’s all very easy to say, but how do we manage to make it something we experience as an integral part of our Christian journey?

Uncertainty about our futures can be unsettling. I struggle when there seems to be a lot of uncertainty in my life. When my future holds a lot of unknowns. There are many things to be concerned and worried about. When I was younger I think I enjoyed new things and embraced the adventure of change. I wonder what has made me want more consistency in my life? I think it also has something to do with experiencing too much change over the last few years. Being in college you meet new people and possibly change how you present yourself and also change certain ideas about your future.

Trusting God is a fundamental aspect of our faith; we trust God to strengthen us during times of change. Trusting God brings comfort when we are facing situations out of our control which make us feel under pressure or anxious. Trusting God can bring us security, safety and rest.

God gives us his wonderful promise. “This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength…’” (Isaiah 30:15).

Look at the words “in quietness and trust is your strength.” There have been times when panic and stress have been more the emotions that I have felt. So, how do we know rest from trusting God no matter what life may throw at us?

Trusting God comes from knowing him and spending time with him.

Moses said to the Lord: “Now therefore, I pray you, if I have found favor in your sight, let me know your ways that I may know you, so that I may find favor in your sight. Consider too, that this nation is your people.” And the Lord said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exodus 33:13-14).

Knowing God and knowing his presence with us through everything we face helps us in trusting him. We cannot know our future; we do not know what the outcome of the decisions we make in life will be; we will face change, trials and uncertainty. Through it all, one thing remains constant – God’s presence going with us. As we take time to know God and spend time drawing near to his presence, we find it easier to trust him and find rest.

Trusting God comes from understanding our future and hope in him.

“For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).

We will face hard times in life. There will be pain and difficulty, suffering and trial. However, God has a plan for us. A plan which gives us a future and a hope. We have an amazing promise of knowing our loving, wonderful Father God and above all things we can take joy, comfort and peace from this amazing, blessed relationship. No matter what we face in life we can be assured that we will spend eternity with him and that through the cross and resurrection of Jesus nothing can defeat us.

Trusting God comes from seeking God in His Word, through the counsel of others, and prayer.

God’s Word can provide us with so much comfort, strength and peace. The more we read it the more we understand who God is, his almighty sovereignty and his amazing power. He is faithful, full of love and completely just – our trust in him grows the more we read and understand the wonderful truths contained in His Word.

The support of other Christians also serves to strengthen us when we are struggling with the weight of worry and anxiety. We can grow in strength from their prayers, comfort and words. God’s presence is available to us through the Christians we have to lean on.

Trusting God, we go to him in prayer. Whatever is worrying us, whatever uncertainty there is in our life, whatever causes us fear can be given to God in prayer. We won’t necessarily know answers but we will know peace and rest, having the knowledge that we can trust in his presence.

Prayer: Dear Lord, please help to come to you with our daily struggles and to put our doubts and uncertainties to rest. Please help us trust in you completely by staying close to your Word, coming to you in prayer, and going to other Christians for guidance. In your name we pray. Amen.

Dec

2019

The One who suffered is with us in our sufferings

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on August 19, 2014.

I had a friend who was going through some challenges at a particular time. I sent my friend this little note at that time … and thought maybe it worth sharing more widely with others of you here.

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Faithful in Affliction

by David Sellnow

“I know, LORD, that your laws are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me” (Psalm 119:75).

That word of prayer is hard for me to say, hard for you to say. When we are afflicted, when things get hard, our first instinct is to say, “God, you’re not fair. This is ridiculous! How could you possibly ask me to put up with this?”

But we keep praying, we keep leaning on God. Maybe people here on earth have treated us unfairly. Maybe situations here on earth will twist and contort us way out of our comfort zone. But the LORD our God is never unfair. And he doesn’t let us go through any ordeals or “valleys of the shadow of death” without going through it all with us, right by our side. Our good shepherd has his rod and staff in hand, to battle for us and pull us out of trouble, and we are comforted (cf. Psalm 23:4).

Lord, forgive us for thinking you are unfair in your dealings with us. We know that even in our afflictions, you remain faithful and true to us always. Your ways are righteous. In faithfulness you allow us to suffer, but you walk with us through every detail of the suffering — and no one knows suffering better than you do, Lord Jesus. You walked the road to your own execution, a cross crushing your shoulders, thorns piercing your skull, whip lashes oozing blood from your back.

You walked the path of affliction for us. Now, when we are afflicted, walk with us. We trust you.

Dec

2019

Waiting on God

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on October 13, 2016.

Waiting on God

by Cassey Davis

Imagine this. The sky is jet black, the wolves are howling, and the air is crisp. As you climb high into your deer stand, you shiver from the bone chilling breeze. Finally, you are all situated and ready for dawn to break. Once the sun rises and thaws your frozen fingers and toes, you gaze at the glowing forest around you and sit in awe of the beauty and wonder God has created. Yet, when the morning sun begins to fade and the dew begins to melt away, waiting becomes incredibly hard. Your mind begins to wander to the sounds around you; every crack of a stick makes your heart race until a squirrel jumps around the corner. Indeed, waiting for the prize trophy deer to saunter in front of your stand is no easy task.

While waiting for a deer to come by your stand proves to be a test of your patience, waiting on God’s timing can prove to be even more difficult. All too often we rely upon ourselves, instead of God, to answer our prayers of desperation … such as yearning for a loved one to be healed of a terminal illness or for a beloved soldier to return from a deployment. Yet, when we struggle to rely upon God to come to our aid, are we forgetting who created us in his own image? Who loved us so much he sent his one and only Son to die for the entire world? So therefore, why do we struggle so much with waiting for God’s timing instead of our own? The answer is sin–the dirty, rotten, filthy sin we daily fight through but is washed away by the blood of the Lamb. Daily we struggle with waiting on earthly things, such as waiting in traffic or waiting for an important phone call. But everything we wait for here on this earth with someday soon be forgotten in the blissfulness of heaven.

The Holy Spirit, who burns a fire within us, leads our hearts to rely upon God’s timing instead of our own, reminding us: “If we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently” (Romans 8:25). Being patient can seem an impossible task; yet if we place our confidence in Christ, he will surely give us the desires of our heart, according to his timing. So, when you are waiting–maybe not so patiently–remember God’s timing is perfect. He will answer as he sees fit so answer you, and he will do so when the timing is just right.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, we often become fidgety and impatient when it seems like we’ve been waiting awhile. Remind us that your timing is perfect and that you will provide for us when the timing is right. Guide us, Lord, as we struggle with being patient in our daily lives. Turn our hearts and minds back to your Word, where you teach us that when we hope for something, you give is to us when and if you see fit. Grant us patience, oh Lord, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

We wait for the Lord — hopefully, patiently, responsibly

The Lord provides for us

Forsaken … but not forsaken

Confidence in God’s promises

God has it handled

Faith in God’s timing

Trusting in God

Waiting on God

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