Month: October 2023

The Solid Rock

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments 
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 ESV

Back in 1976, I worked for a company in charge of tree trimming for Connecticut Light and Power. Though by then I had a few years of experience clearing the right-of-way, nothing prepared me for the devastation of Hurricane Belle. Huge oaks, ancient maples and towering pine trees were snapped off or uprooted and on top of the power lines for our entire region. Over the following week we would often drive our trucks into neighborhoods that had been without power for days where the people would come out and cheer, as if we were conquering heroes. But if they could have read our minds, they would have heard thoughts like, “What in the world are we going to do?” or ” How are we going to get this done without getting hurt?” We were facing a huge challenge, but Joshua was coming up against the even more overwhelming task of leading the people of Israel, into a battle of conquest for the land that God had promised them. Unknown enemies lay ahead, and the tombs of those who had disobeyed God in the wilderness lay behind. Now that Moses was dead Joshua was in charge, and maybe like me, he wondered what to do. He recalled that Moses had met God at the burning bush and spent forty days in the cloud of glory receiving the ten commandments, but all Joshua had done was to watch from a distance. How would he be able to do what God was asking of Him?

Sometimes I try to encourage people facing major challenges by saying, “God knows what you are going through.”; but while that is true, it misses the most important point. The reality, for those of us who have chosen to follow Jesus, is that God not only knows, what we are going through, but that He has planned for every step of our journey. Our real hope: is not that we can handle what lies ahead, but that God has promised to be with us and on that solid rock of God’s promise, we can be courageous, no matter what comes our way!

Step Away From the Puzzle

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments 
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 
Hebrews 11:13 ESV

Years ago, book lovers often subscribed to book-of-the-month clubs and one of the most popular was the Reader’s Digest. Their angle was to condense books down from their original length, and then bundle 4-5 novels into a single volume. (Think War and Peace down to 120 pages!). Though this was usually a big hit, one of their flops was an ill-conceived attempt to condense the Bible. Turns out folks didn’t want the Good Book being slimmed down! Yet, in Hebrews chapter eleven, God does, what those editors couldn’t, and gives in just forty verses a condensed version of all the heroes of the Old Testament. Today’s passage tells us that these people hadn’t received all of God’s promises, but they got a glimpse of them from far away.

That long distance perspective reminded me of putting together a jig-saw puzzle. God’s promise is the beautiful picture on the front of the box, but what I see is more like a heap of pieces dumped on a table. Some of them I put aside for edges, while others I group by color, but few fit easily together. But just as the Bible heroes stepped back and greeted their promises from afar, sometimes the best puzzle strategy is to step away. After too much time up close, we need to rest our eyes. Then, almost miraculously, on when we return, we see patterns that just leap out at us, and we make progress. The worst thing is to keep trying to force pieces together without perspective. In the Bible, that approach has led to some terrible decisions. Abraham took a second wife when Sarah didn’t get pregnant, Moses killed an Egyptian, and David got tangled up with Bathsheba, just to name a few. If our own lives were condensed into forty verses, I am sure there would be enough to scandalize all our friends and family! But if we just step back, God will help us see His promises from afar. That viewpoint is a reminder that we aren’t on a predetermined schedule and only God can see the whole picture on the front of the box. So, take a breath, step away from the puzzle for a moment and God will give you the wisdom to fit together that puzzle, one piece at a time!