Good morning and happy Saturday. What a beautiful service we had for Good Friday. It was a great time to reflect upon what Christ endured for us and the choices that we make. Omar and Ashton did a wonderful job with the worship team and the choir. The entire service was a fitting way to prepare our hearts for Easter Sunday. Our service will be at 11:00 am if you are looking for a place to attend.
We praise the Lord that brother Jacques was able to find another house to move the kids to. It was quite a journey, but they are finally in a town that is much safer than where they were before. In fact, the area of Port au Prince was so dangerous that it took Jacques quite a while to find anyone willing to come near the area to pick the kids up and take them out of town. Thus far, no one is willing to go there to pick up any of the beds and supplies. Nevertheless, the youth and staff are out of there and in an area that has been calm thus far. We will begin the process of raising the funds to get them beds and other supplies. The house also does not have electricity so we will be trying to purchase solar panels, batteries, and an inverter as well. Praise God for the answer to the many prayers for protection and His provision.
The other day I was driving on a very familiar stretch of road heading toward my house. Part of it is a portion that has not been changed since I was a kid. One interesting feature of this particular section is that from the south end looking north, it appears to be straight all the way to Johnson Drive. However, in between that is a downhill section that has a big curve in it. I think that when they first built the road, they were going around the creek at the bottom of the hill. So, if you just focus on the main intersection up in the distance, you would think that you would travel a continuous ascent up the hill in a straight manner. However, if you tried that, you would crash into the guardrail or into the ravine. When I was younger, I used to like riding my motorcycle through this section because of the sweeping curve, but that is probably a story for another time.
Anyways, as I thought about this endearing piece of roadway, I realized that it is kind of like life sometimes. We get in our head that we are on a straight path will a gradual incline all of the way to our destination. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, we encounter a downward slope, a sharp curve, or some obstruction in our path. If we aren’t paying attention, or if we are solely focused on the distant, we can get ourselves in a mess. That is why it is important to know where you are headed but be aware of what is going on all around you. In life, there typically isn’t a straight shot to the finish line. There are often bumps in the road, twists, turns, detours, and even roads that get closed. Reacting to that and making adjustments is all part of the maturation process of life. What you want to avoid at all cost is to crash and burn.
In our spiritual life, it would be wonderful if we could simply grow toward maturity on some even plane or trajectory. However, that is not what happens for the majority of us (probably all of us). In order for us to grow, we actually need to encounter challenges, difficulties, testing, and the like. It is in these that we can learn and grow to become more like Jesus. If you think about the fruit of the Spirit, the way to grow in each aspect of that is to be around people and in circumstances that cause you to need to exercise them more. For instance, in order to grow in the area of patience, that means that everything cannot always go smoothly. If you want to grow in the area of joy, then it is likely there will be days when you won’t be singing, “Zip-a-dee-doo-dah…My, oh my, what a wonderful day.” If you want to learn self-control, work on the plumbing or electrical in your house and you will have an opportunity for growth.
The apostle James writes to a group of people that were undergoing persecution. However, his words help us to understand a bit more about the maturation process. “2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.” Our desire really should be for growing toward maturity. But, in order to do that, we will likely need to walk through a variety of challenges. As much as we would like to grow to become like Jesus while taking a leisurely stroll through the park-like setting of life, it typically doesn’t work that way. However, through our faith in Jesus, our commitment to His Word, we can walk with Him throughout this journey called life.
As Jesus taught in Matthew 7, 24 “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.” (Matthew 7:24-27)
From our neighborhoods to the nations,
Pastor Larry
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