Faith

Driving Through the Notch

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments

Even though I walk through the valley of death I will fear no evil for you are with me. Your rod and your staff they comfort me. Psalm 23:4 ESV

During times of crisis, it is natural to be fearful. A few years ago, our airwaves were filled with the constant reports of quarantines and businesses shutting down. There had never been anything like it in our lifetimes, and we wondered what would happen next. Today, there are other crises happening that are like the dark valley of death in today’s verse. Each of us faces a little different valley, but what remains the same is that as we go through them, we have a hope because we have a good shepherd. whose name is Jesus, and He has promised to walk with us all the way through.

Outside the city where I was born lies a long valley called Sugar Hollow. It is a notch between the hills through which the main road coming up from the South runs into town. It is a pretty stretch of road, but one strange thing about Sugar Hollow is that as you drive into it during afternoon rush hour, it gets dark early. Everyone begins to flick on their headlights because the surrounding hills block out the sun, in the Hollow. All around it begins to look as if night has fallen; but as you round the final bend of the road that leads out of the valley, the shadows draw back, and the sun reappears as if saying “You made it through the notch again! Welcome home!” 

Prayer: Father God, help me to trust you in the valley I am walking through today and to remember that you have promised to be with me all the way through!
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Seeing Over the Crowd

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments

When in 2023 I submitted an article to The Upper Room titled “This I Call to Mind”, I had no idea of what lay in store for our family in the following year. At the time our daughter-in-law, Melinda had just finished seven rounds of chemotherapy. After regaining enough strength to travel, she and our son came for their vacation to visit us. We joked with each other that week, because here in supposedly sunny Florida, it rained the whole time they were here. Though the weather put Melinda’s longing to spend time at the beach on hold, it gave us all the opportunity to spend more time together. Sitting inside while afternoon thunderstorms and morning showers dampened our enthusiasm, we did not realize how precious those few days were, until the following summer, when the disease which Melinda had battled so bravely took her earthly life.

And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. Luke 19:3 ESV

In my seventy-three years here on earth I have discovered that it is far too easy to take days, weeks, months and even years for granted. In the words of one old song, “We thought they’d never end,” and yet no matter how much we wish that they wouldn’t, they always do. Sometimes I have wondered how a loving God, who sees the beginning from the end, allows suffering like Melinda and so many others have experienced. If you are asking that this morning, you are not alone. We like Zaccheus, are so short that even when we stand on tiptoe, all we can see is the back of other people’s shoulders. We need to climb up on something higher, to see over the crowd and into the eyes of Jesus. It is only when we come face to face with Him, that He shows us that every heartbeat, each breath, and even every cup of coffee we share together is priceless. For us as a family, we are learning to climb up a little higher and put our hope in Him. In different ways and at different times every one of us passes through sorrow. Though we wish there were some easier way, it is always in our weakness that God gives His strength and in our darkness that we cling to the light of His mercy and know more than ever how steadfast and faithful is His love!


But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentation 3:21-23 ESV
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Come!

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Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money,
come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Isaiah 55:1 NIV

When we lived in the mountains of Northeast Pennsylvania we had two Elkhounds: named Sonya and Thunder. Though they were sisters from the same litter, and looked alike, their personalities were completely different. Thunder loved nothing better than to sit with me and let her ears be scratched, but Sonya was always looking for a chance to escape and would usually entice Thunder to run after her. Late one snowy Winter night, I cracked the front door open to see how much had fallen, when Sonya suddenly shot out between me and the door, with Thunder close behind. “Sonya! Thunder! Come back!” I shouted after them, but rather than turning or even slowing down, they hurried off into the darkness. As Elkhounds I knew they weren’t in any danger from the cold, and since they were ignoring me, I simply shrugged my shoulders, closed the door, flicked off the light and went to bed. In the morning you never saw such a meek couple of puppy-dogs, curled up by our doorway and eager to be let back in.

Sometimes our walk with God looks like that night on the mountain. God loves us to come sit close to Him. He wants nothing more than to care for us and keep us safe in His presence. In today’s verse, He calls to us, “Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters.” But sometimes our heart longs to run, and when we do God doesn’t chase after us. We think we are getting away with something, but in reality, we are trading a safe warm home for a night in a snowstorm of doubts, fears and false promises. How amazingly good it is that God doesn’t lock His door and vow to never speak to us again. Instead, when we limp home with our feet frozen from the cold, and huddle up outside His door, He calls us again, but this time He says, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest!” Can you hear Him calling? Are you ready to listen to His voice? The moment our heart says, “Yes” we will discover a rest that He paid for on Calvary and the home that He has prepared for us to stay in forever!

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-31 NIV

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