Lord, save us!

Each day we learn of more about the spread of the virus and none of us has the faintest idea how this story ends. The uncertainty wears on us if we dwell on it, so let’s make a radical choice of faith.

There is a story about Jesus’ power that Matthew tells from his own experience. "Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” (Matthew 8:23-27, NIV)

Here is a suggestion for you today. Find a piece of paper or a journal and write down what is making you fearful. You do not have to write a book – a simple list will do. Then, holding it in your hands, pray “Lord, save us!”  Even if you don’t ‘feel it’ make the choice to turn to Jesus!  You don’t have to tell Him what to do, how to do it, or make a legal case.  Just place yourself, your needs, your family, your friends, your community, your nation, our world before and ask Him to save. 

Jesus told that storm to settle and it did. He will calm the fears in you and in me IF we will choose faith.

Remember He promises this - “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”  

What comes from that assurance? “So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:5-6, NIV)

Sometimes it may seem to you that God is not there. Words like I have shared above may seem to be written in a foreign language, all but incomprehensible. Choose faith anyway! Faith does not rest on our experience or emotion. We choose to pray for faith, to live IN faith, and our intimacy with God will grow. 
If we will choose to take God at His Word, which means accepting what He says as true and shaping our choices around the Truth, the Holy Spirit will strengthen us. Yes, and our experience will be shaped by the outcomes of our faith response.  Let’s not base our ongoing faith in results that we demand of God. Instead, let’s trust the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus.

The word from the Word today is Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians “that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” (Eph. 3:16–17).

Pray with me, the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray-

”‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’"

For Yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen

 (Matthew 6:9-13, NIV)

__________

This is my song for this season …

Stand In Your Love

When darkness tries to roll over my bones

When sorrow comes to steal the joy I own

When brokenness and pain is all I know

I won't be shaken I won't be shaken

My fear doesn't stand a chance

When I stand in Your love (repeat)

Shame no longer has a place to hide

I am not a captive to the lies

I'm not afraid to leave my past behind

I won't be shaken I won't be shaken

There's power that can break off every chain

There's power that can empty out a grave

There's resurrection power that can save

There's power in Your name power in Your name

Standing in Your love

Ethan Hulse | Josh Baldwin | Mark Harris | Rita Springer

© 2018 Be Essential Songs (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC)

EGH Music Publishing (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC)

Gateway Create Publishing (Fair Trade Music Publishing [c/o Essential Music Publishing LLC])

CCLI License # 810055

Today, it’s tears

Have your emotions been in wild swings? Mine, too. This morning there are tears. A song a cousin posted on Facebook as she cradled her baby son on her chest left me totally wrecked for a few moments. Thinking about my kids and grandkids, my friends, the people of my congregation - brought a surge of love and concern and then deep and heavy sobs with tears rolling down my face.
So, I guess the emotion of the day, or at least the hour, is sorrow.

At one time in my life, I would have repressed those emotions, preferring a steely resolve, a determination to overcome them but I am wiser now. No, I do not bathe in the pathos, nor do I seek to jump on an emotional roller coaster. However, I am more self-aware, more willing to let my heart sort itself out, to understand that I am not a machine, but a warm-blooded human being.

A good friend wrote this on his pastoral blog yesterday, “We are not in normal times. Our normal ways of dealing with things don’t apply. For many, normal resources are out of reach. Social supports have vaporized. So let me say straight up: What you are feeling is normal. You are feeling it differently than everyone else – congratulations – you are not a clone! But whether you are non-plussed or freaked out – for you, you are responding in your normal to the abnormal around you. Own it. But it is time for it to not own you.” -Steve Felker (https://lifesprism.wordpress.com/)

Own your emotions, don’t let them own you. When we are really stressed, and who isn’t these days, it is important to give ourselves time and permission to feel, to process. If we do not, those emotions can get toxic. They can create physical symptoms, morph into depression, or drive us to behaviors that are irrational, even destructive. I love Steve’s practical advice in that same blog. “Stay away from the destructive stuff. Yeah, the 24/7 news feeds are not your friends. Nor is the endless stream of the freaked out social media. Nor are the pot, porn, and booze anesthetics of our culture. They may dull the moment, but they do nothing to order the inner storm stirred in heart and mind by times like these.”  Lots of wisdom there!

Do you know that you can take your emotions into God’s Presence? One of the safest places to ‘let go’ is in prayer! Maybe that is one reason Jesus advise us to pray our most personal prayers alone, not on street corners. When I was in tears this morning, my prayer was not very coherent. It was just “Oh, Jesus,” between sobs, tears, and tissues for a while. And, I know He heard my heart’s cry. Paul teaches us about that very kind of prayer. "And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don’t even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words." (Romans 8:26, NLT)

Prayer of this nature is not just psychologically therapeutic, it changes us and our world, engaging the loving, living God with our needs. Let me leave you today with these re-assuring words. Meditate for a while on this wonderful truth. "Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good." (Romans 8:26-28, The Message)

How I pray you know His love, that you are able to find hope in His care. Press on, friend, with “faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love.”

________

Way Maker

You are here moving in our midst

I worship You I worship You

You are here working in this place

I worship You I worship You

(You are) Way Maker Miracle Worker Promise Keeper

Light in the darkness my God that is who You are

You are here touching ev'ry heart

I worship You I worship You

You are here healing ev'ry heart

I worship You I worship You

You are here turning lives around

I worship You I worship You

You are here mending ev'ry heart

I worship You yeah I worship You Lord

That is who You are

That is who You are

That is who You are

That is who You are

Even when I don't see it You're working

Even when I don't feel it You're working

You never stop You never stop working

You never stop You never stop working

Osinachi Kalu Okoro Egbu

© 2016 Integrity Music Europe (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing (Integrity Music [DC Cook]))

CCLI License # 810055

Don’t minimize the problem. Magnify the Lord!

When I awakened this morning, my first thought was not joy, not faith, not hope. Perhaps you do better at pushing away the heaviness than I do. I wish I could, but my mind filled up at 6 am with thoughts about my friend still in ICU, critically ill; about a server who has brought me breakfast for years who is now without an income; about the millions of small businesses that are facing potential bankruptcy; about my inability to do what I have done for my entire life because I am ‘social distancing’ from people for whom I care which is the polar opposite of what a pastor does. And then …  yes, I chose FAITH over FEAR!

The Spirit of God whispered to me. “Jerry, don’t minimize the problem. Magnify the Lord!”  Faith does not ignore reality and our situation is dire. Faith looks higher to God. That is not a platitude, nor does it mean that all the troubles will disappear when I find the right prayer to say. Faith chooses trusts in Him, and allows us to find a "firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see." (Hebrews 11:1, The Message)  

After COVID19, life will go on, differently for all us, but it will go on. There will be loss, grief, orientation to new realities, and … the potential to grow in the beauty of the Lord. 

Let me illustrate with a snippet of my own story.  Six years ago, at this very season, Bev and I learned that she had advanced ovarian cancer and that the likelihood of her recovery was slim. As the doctor told us the grim news, we shook (literally!) like trees in a heavy storm. Our minds could barely grasp his words. Our hearts were battered. She was staring at months of suffering, I was facing the loss of my love. No, there is no fairy tale ending to that story. She died on December 29, 2015. But, I chose, with the help of dear friends and a precious God, to live. Her life continues in a realm invisible to me and mine continues, differently, here. In that awful season, we found deeper love and greater faith. That is not intended to sugarcoat the awfulness of it all.

Today … just for this day … choose faith! A favorite Psalm of mine is the 37^th.     

David gives faith some actions words, ones with which we can engage ourselves. He says,
 

“Trust in the LORD and
do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this:

He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes." (Psalm 37:2-7, NIV)

Go back and re-read those bolded words.  “Trust … do good … delight in the Lord … commit your way… be still!”  Maybe you would want to write those down and make them your reminder when fear starts to make you tremble.

Here is a word from the Word. "The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD; He is their stronghold in time of trouble." (Psalm 37:39, NIV)

Don’t minimize the problem. Magnify the Lord!

__________

Beautiful Things

All this pain

I wonder if I'll ever find my way

I wonder if my life could really change

At all

All this earth

Could all that is lost ever be found

Could a garden come up from this ground

At all

You make beautiful things

You make beautiful things out of the dust

You make beautiful things

You make beautiful things out of us

All around

Hope is springing up from this old ground

Out of chaos life is being found

In You

You make me new You are making me new

You make me new You are making me new

(REPEAT)

Lisa Gungor | Michael Gungor

© 2009 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055

Pastor Jerry Scott

Faiith Discovery Church

FaithDiscovery.com