Mountains

Progress in High Places

/ pastorpete51 / 7 Comments 
God the Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the deer's; He makes me tread on my high places. Habakkuk 3:19 ESV

I haven’t been posting much because we have been traveling the country, visiting our family over the last two weeks. Seeing our sons, our grandchildren and in-laws has been a wonderful though exhausting experience. When I stopped into Walmart to get the oil changed yesterday, I learned that we had logged 4,300 miles, but it has been worth it to see our granddaughter at ballet practice, our grandson holding a baby goat and our boys who are now grown men! In spending a birthday with one of our older grandsons, he chose among the activities of his special day, to watch his cousin’s speech class presentation day. As the teacher opened the session, she began with a quote that really stuck with me. “Some people say that practice makes perfect. But practice doesn’t make perfect, practice makes progress!”

How often in our Christian walk do we beat ourselves up, or stress out over mistakes and feel like quitting, because we have not attained that “Perfect” status that we hoped for? That was certainly the situation which the prophet Habakkuk faced in today’s verse. He had done his best praying, preaching and setting a good example for the people that God had called him to serve. Yet most folks ignored his advice and had fallen deeply into the sins of idol worship and sexual immorality. The armies of the Babylonian empire were now destroying his nation, burning the temple and putting an end to the kingdom that God had once given to King David. Things couldn’t have looked worse. Habakkuk saw that no matter how hard he tried or how persuasively he preached, that his version of success was not to be, and yet God gave him hope. In his darkest moments, Habakkuk discovered that God was still his strength and God was still in charge of the spiritual progress that he was going to make. No matter the cliffs of impossible situations, hopeless battles or dark days ahead, God would give him feet as sure footed as a wild deer. God showed him that even in those places he could walk and not fall. God is also our hope, our refuge and our strength in the bleak circumstances that sometimes surround us, our families and our nation. We can have hope because our God doesn’t demand our perfect response to terrible circumstances or perplexing people. Instead, He takes weaklings like you and me and gives us strength. He makes us as sure-footed and graceful as a deer so that we can make progress day by day as we walk with Him up onto the highest places of all!

And Yet God’s Grace

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness…” 2 Corinthians 12:9a

There is nothing I like about weakness, and I loathe the inabilities that have come with age. My fingers sometimes ache when I play my guitar and my voice takes time out for lunch while I am trying to finish a song. There is so much that needs to be done which requires, more strength, endurance and intelligence than I possess – and Yet God inexplicably delights in those moments. When I am no longer capable of once very ordinary things, God’s grace that lay dormant in my younger more capable days, becomes active.

I hate sitting and only listening when I feel I should speak. It is frustrating to spend nights tossing and turning over struggles which should be old hat by now and-Yet God- has promised that even when I can no longer trust myself, I can trust that He will give me grace. His grace is enough in every need. His grace is enough when I cannot understand. His grace is enough when my plans tangle like threads which His fingers alone can unknot and weave into a beautiful tapestry. His grace is enough when I cannot sing a note to give me song in the night. Oh yes – I do not love my weakness – and Yet God- has promised that in my weakness His power and strength will be made perfect, His grace will carry us through, and He will get all the glory and praise!

2 Corinthians 12:9b
Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, 
so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.   

Simplicity by the Lake

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

As promised I’m sharing some of the photos from our getaway to a cottage called Simplicity. Now the funny thing is that most accomodations begin by giving a list of what is included – a pool, cable television, breakfast and free shuttle service. But the wonderful thing about Simplicity what it doesn’t offer!

Having four days of no cell service, no tv, no internet or even a daily schedule were an amazing blessing. Instead we discovered a flock of turkeys sleeping in a corn field, a deer grazing in the backyard by our car and a mist rising from the lake at dawn. Most of all there was time to pray and to talk things over with God. Busyness is often the excuse I use to put off till another day what God wants changed right now.

Last year after our first stay at the cottage I couldn’t wait to go back. Now I am wondering why I can’t allow more space for quietness right where we live. I learned that slowing down didn’t mean doing nothing, but instead allowing time for what mattered most. Simplicity is not just a cottage by a lake. It is a choice that Jesus is calling for us to make. What will you do with the 24 hours He is giving you today?

For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. 2 Corinthians 1:12 ESV