Prayer

Trusting the Engineer

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments

Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 ESV

Worrying over our grandchildren’s relationship with Jesus has been a recurring theme for me lately. Now I can hardly believe that I first wrote that opening line two years ago. Things with our grandchildren have gotten easier with some and harder with others. Some days it feels as if our hearts are being pulling in opposite directions, and I need that peace that is waaaaay beyond anything I can understand sometimes! When they were small, everything seemed pretty simple. We took them to church; prayed with them and made sure they had plenty of cookies. But now they are older, some days it feels as if I am slogging through a mud bog trying to communicate even the basics of what it means to be a Christian. As I tossed and turned through another middle of the night worry the Holy Spirit tapped me on the shoulder and reminded me that I was not alone. I was forgetting that ultimately that job is His and that He loves them way more than I do. It is hard to trust God with people who are the closest to us. Yielding control over our spouse, a child a grandchild or a friend means letting God take over. Back in 2005 Carrie Underwood recorded a song called, “Jesus Take the Wheel!” and its message was exactly what we need in our most anxious moments. We need to let go of our grip so that God can steer. Jesus won’t just rip the steering wheel away. He will allow us as many nights as we wish to toss and turn. But when we are worn out with worry and fed up with fear God is waiting and even longing for us to trust that He knows how to fix things better than we do. Only He has the strength to carry our worries and has promised a peace that stretches from our anxious hour all the way to heaven!

When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer!  - Corrie Ten Boom
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Draw Near — Lessons from a Lab

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

This week I have been focusing on verses about God being near to and binding up the broken hearted. In my rushing about, flinging my arms in every direction, activity centered life, that just spending honest quiet moments with God have been few and far between. How blessed I was this morning to read Beth’s post about drawing close to God, without using words. One of my go-to scriptures in times of anxiety has been Psalm 34 and it perfectly sets the table for the devotional from Beth today. I pray you will be blessed as you draw near. If you are not familiar with Beth Allison’s blog Lessons from a Lab, I would invite you to check it out for yourself. (And this song from Meredith Andrews is beautiful!

Psalm 34:18 The Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit

Adi is a licker.  So, I wasn’t alarmed when I noticed her licking her front leg.  When she persisted in licking this area again the next morning, I took notice.  I examined the skin- no bumps, redness, or swelling.  I observed her gait and saw no limp.  A bit perplexed I decided I would just […]

Draw Near — Lessons from a Lab

A Legacy of Commitment

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. Isaiah 6:8 KJV

In a continuation of our week of a legacy of prayer we come to the prayer of commitment and a man named Reggie White. During his amazing, Reggie played first in Philadelphia and then with the Green Packers where he made the game ending sack against Brett Favre to win Superbowl XXXI in 1993. In 1998 he retired from football and went on to become an ordained minister. My wife and I were blessed to be able hear Reggie speak in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania in 2001, and the one thing I remember Reggie saying was, “When my kids look back, I hope they don’t just think about me as a football player. I want them to remember that I was a man of God.” Ironically, just three years later Reggie passed away from sleep-apnea, at the age of 43.

Just like Reggie White, we never know if the life we are living now may become the legacy that we leave behind. Isaiah was much like Reggie White. He was successful and had already been established as a respected Prophet to the king. But God had something far more controversial for Isaiah to do. When the king died, Isaiah had a vision where he saw the throne of God with all the angels worshipping, and Isaiah fell on his face in fear. Then he heard God’s voice asking, “Who will go?” In that moment Isaiah could have simply been silent, hoping someone besides him would raise his hand. Have you ever done that? Sadly, I confess that I have.

But real commitment meant leaving his comfortable and acceptable life and diving into the unknown. Isaiah could have let the risks outweigh the cost, but instead he said, “I will go!” He committed without knowing where he was going or even what he would be asked to do. He signed the blank check of his commitment and invited God to fill it in. We can be committed to things like fame and fortune, or we can spend piles of money trying to win people’s favor. What matters in the end is best summed up in a saying penned in the journal of missionary Jim Elliot not long before he was martyred. “Only one life, so soon it is past. Only what’s done for Christ will last!”