Midweek Connection
***Can you believe it? We have moved into the third month of the year. My how time is moving forward. It is a constant reminder to not take anything or anyone for granted.
So far this year, a number of famous entertainers have passed away. There have also been a number of not-so-famous people who have died, too, but they were very dear to their loved ones.
The year has also begun with lots of bad tidings. With all the winter storms, accidents, incidents, negative medical diagnosis and family trauma, this year has started off with great shock and sadness for hundreds and thousands of people.
It’s a far cry from all of the high expectations that were carried into the New Year. Just think back to when we approached 2014 with all kinds of positive and Biblical quotes about new life and open doors.
However, for many, this year has brought debilitating shock and grief. So far this year is causing many Believers to stop and take inventory of their lives and to reevaluate their understanding of God’s word and some of those promises for 2014.
As you know, we also started the year with the bad news of Pastor Chris’ mother needing heart surgery. Since the operation, we have been monitoring the progress of her rehabilitation through family members.
This kind of drama, along with the past years of disappointment, had driven us to the point where we hated to see phone calls with the Missouri area code. We were hesitant to hear what might have happened next. Somehow, the Lord has given us His grace to keep pressing forward to minister to the Urban Life family no matter how we were feeling.
We have learned, through the years, how vital it is for us to develop faith that perseveres and presses through the difficult seasons of life. Even if we weren’t pastors, we would still feel this way.
We learned, as a young couple, how to follow hard after the Lord. We had to learn how to pursue Him in good times and bad times. We had to learn how to follow His voice, even when we couldn’t see our way. We had to learn how to praise God, even when tears of disappointment were streaming down our faces.
Sometimes we feel a little weird preaching here in Harrisburg because our message does not promise that everything will always turn out okay when we follow God. Sometimes you can do everything that the Bible tells us to do and still get hit with an unexpected trial. You can follow the voice of God and still have your heart broken.
But God promises us in His word: “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—“
2 Corinthians 4:7-9
This means, the treasure that is within you is not only revealed in good times, but it is powerfully revealed in these difficult seasons.
The reason we gather every week is to bring more attention to Christ who lives within you. We want to remind you of the greater one who lives within you. We want to remind you, just one more time, that you’re going to make it.
No matter how hard this life gets and no matter how forceful the warfare comes against us, we still win! The only way you can lose is if you give up.... so never, ever give up!
Speak these words to yourself:
Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? HOPE IN GOD, for I shall yet praise Him.... Psalm 42:5, Psalm 43: 5
