Wait for God

Dear Friends,

Many of us went to sleep last night or woke up this morning to the horrific news of another terror attack. This time in Nice, our hearts and prayers are with the people there—for those who have lost their loved ones, those injured, and for the people of Nice and France.

This Sunday’s sermon will be Wait for God, and the Scriptures we’ll be considering are 1 Samuel 16:1; 10-13.

If ever there was some tough advice to swallow, it is: “Wait for God.” But it’s hard for us to wait. We’re used to a fast-paced, high-tech world, and we don’t tolerate anything that slows us down. It’s just not in our blood anymore.

But that’s not God’s way. He doesn’t mind waiting, and he doesn’t mind our waiting either. In fact, he goes out of his way sometimes just to put us in situations where we can do nothing but wait. If anything matures our faith, it’s this—waiting for the Lord to act when no other power can help. Pick up any Christian biography and we’ll notice that the experience of the growing believer is punctuated with frequent and sometimes extended periods of waiting. Waiting for what? Waiting for God to step in and do what we can’t. It’s in the waiting and hoping, waiting and praying, waiting and expecting, that our faith stretches or takes quantum leaps upward.

Have you ever wondered why so often in history God waits until the last minute to step in and help his people? Because it’s in that last second, in the fifty-ninth minute of the eleventh hour, that he gets his best work done. That’s where we stretch and grow. If God answered our prayers the very moment we first prayed, we wouldn’t grow a single millimeter. No, it’s the waiting that keeps us dependent on him as we experience his total trustworthiness.

Looking forward to celebrating the life of our church with founding family Mark and Sally Thorogood in worship with us on Sunday. Sharon Page is collecting reservations for Sunday lunch following worship. If you’d like to join us at Forst Kasten, starting at 12.30 hrs or so, please let Sharon know. Thanks.

In Christ’s love,
Pastor John

_______

Photo by Ref54 via Flickr