The world is on fire. Wildfires ravage vast swaths of the west coast. Record heat threatens to ignite more fires. Covid numbers are flaring. So are violence, fear, and political unrest around the world – and here at home. Floodwaters roll through China and India and Germany and places in our nation as well.
There is no shortage of tragedy that we must acknowledge and lament. Our hearts often quake with fear as we watch and read the news.
Nevertheless, friends, I pray that we will remember the goodness of God in the midst of all that we are in the midst of. I pray that we will remember and believe the Bible’s many promises of God’s presence with us – no matter what.
Isaiah 43 tells us – But now thus says the Lord, the One who created you, O Jacob, the One who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you… Do not fear, for I am with you.
The raging waters, floods, and fires are coming. They are here. AND we do not have to live in fear because God is with us.
In the midst of it all, we can look back and remember the goodness of God throughout our lives. We can savor those times when God’s hand of mercy carried us through life’s fires and floods. We can give thanks for the ways that God has loved and cared for us and brought us through it all.
For example, we can look back and see how God carried our students through elementary school, middle school, high school, college, and graduate school – and empowered them to move up to next levels and graduate – even in the midst of a pandemic. Congratulations to every single one of you. Thanks be to God.
Caldwell, please plan to be in worship with us this Sunday as we will honor and celebrate our graduates – from every level of the educational process. Graduates, we hope you and your families will be with us in worship!
In addition, we can look back and see how God carried and protected our youth and their leaders on the youth trip last week. Everyone on the trip learned about the work God is doing in the eastern part of our state. They bonded as a group. Certainly there were challenges, but God granted patience, strength, stamina, laughter, courage, and love. Everyone who went on the trip returned home safely. Thanks to all the leaders who went. Thanks to all those who bought supplies before the trip and prayed for them during the trip. Thanks be to God.
On a personal note, I look back and see how God’s hand directed me to Caldwell, through the process of preparation for ordination, and then through the ordination service back on July 11th. Your joy, your love, your excitement about all that God has done and is going to do – it was palpable during that service, and I believe that Jesus Christ was glorified that day. I thank God for you and for your willingness to be used by God in my life and in the life of my family. To God be all the glory!
Later in Isaiah 43, we read these words: Do not remember the former things or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
Caldwell, in those verses, God was telling the people that they didn’t – and we don’t – have to make the raging fires and the rising floodwaters the focus of their attention. We can turn our eyes towards God and look forward to the new thing God is doing in us, among us, and through us. We can look ahead with excitement to see what God is going to do in the lives of our graduates, in our personal lives, in the life of the church, and in the world. Our God still knows how to make a way out of no way. Our God still knows how to provide water for our thirsty souls and our thirsty world. Thanks be to God for that.
How has God been present in your life in the past, friend? How will you savor the goodness of God in your life, even though the world is on fire? Will you join me in thanking God in advance for all that is yet to come?
Grace and peace, Gail
