When hard things happen, if we think God’s character is sinister, mean, or, at minimum, can’t be trusted, that makes us hopeless. But, if we believe that God’s nature is always good, loving, and merciful, then we know that He has reasons for these hard things, and His reasons are good, loving, and merciful. Even if we don’t understand ‘why’ they’re happening. What we believe about God’s character affects our hope.
The last Saturday I wasn’t out of town or didn’t have a ministry event was September 2nd. Since September, I have traveled to Denver, Manila, Bend, and Orlando. In between, we’ve had local conferences and weddings. I realize I’m weak compared to many of you who travel a lot, but I’m happy to be home now for a while. I don’t have another travel week planned for ministry until March. It feels nice to unpack my bags and put my feet up finally.
I haven’t done the math yet, but since the beginning of the summer, my preaching schedule has been the lightest it’s been in years. I feel it in my soul. I love preaching at CLF. Sometimes, like Sunday, it’s like we’ve come into our family room at our house and we’re rejoicing in Christ and learning from Christ. It’s amazing to me how comfortable it is to preach at ‘home.’ I know from other pastors, in other places, their churches don’t feel this way. I’m grateful for this.
This made me consider generosity. Most of the time, we ask questions like, ‘Can we afford to give?’ ‘Do we have enough at the end of the month to give?’ These are all good questions…for an accountant. Farmer thinking would be, ‘How can I afford NOT to give? And ‘If I give at the front end of the month (sow), will God NOT fulfill His promise to meet me on the back of the month (reap)?’
YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS OUT ON THE FELLOWSHIP.