Keep Your Head Up

Ps 30:5 weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

Being a Christian does not mean a life without sorrow or troubles. There are many things that cause us to weep.   It does not mean that expression of sorrow is a sign of weakness.  The man or woman of strong faith will experience sorrow. Each of us will have a night time experience. But joy comes in the morning.  

Eccl 3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh.  Darkness is a convenient environment for wickedness and it is a period where weeping and grumbling takes place. Night of darkness represents weeping. The morning represents joy. 

Whatever your situation might be today, know that it will not go on forever. What is it that causes you distress and grief? What brings you mental anguish and pain? What is it that keeps you from getting a good night’s sleep? The text says: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”  Many of us have suffered with one disappointment after another.  Many families are being torn apart by “moral failure”, loss of employment and income.  Some have lost family members due to death.  Someone may be weeping over a broken or lost relationship.  I lost a family member just this past week.  Losing a loved one is never easy.

Godly sorrow heals, but unnatural sorrow makes the wounds deeper and fills the heart with pain. Natural sorrow gradually helps us put life back together again, but unnatural sorrow tears things apart, and keeps them that way.  When you sorrow in a natural way, you learn to face and accept reality; but unnatural sorrow isolates you from reality and makes it difficult for you to adjust to the demands of life. True sorrow enables us to experience the comfort of God; but unnatural sorrow blinds us to God’s comfort and seems to give us, instead, the condemnation of God: there is a growing feeling of guilt instead of an experience of grace.

Jesus is the strongest Man who ever walked on this earth, and He wept openly!  It’s ok to cry. It’s ok to cry over our own pain and it is ok to cry over the pain of others. Jesus openly wept when he met Mary & Martha shortly after Lazarus died.  First, there was His great sense of compassion. He hurt to see others hurt. His emotions were pushed to the limit by witnessing the sorrow of Mary. Those with compassion are able to “weep with them that weep” and all Christians ought to have this ability (Romans 12:15).

Jesus tells us in St. John 16:22 that the joy he gives no man can take it from us.  David uses the night to show us that our weeping is temporary, the night isn’t going to last. As you face the pains and heartaches and mistreatments of life, it is only by complete confidence in the goodness and plan of God that you can overcome. The things that could destroy you can become building blocks on the journey of faith as you look for the hand of God in all circumstances of life. Keep your head up.  1 John 5:4 – “This is the victory that has overcome the world our faith” …..God Loves You and so do I….Pastor Tammy

When Things Don’t Go As Planned

Ps 37:5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

I am the type of person who likes to plan things to a certain point.  This past week proved to be very challenging for me.  Whenever I encounter a problem, I like to figure out a solution to the problem.  I realize that some things are outside of our control.  Psalms 37 says we can plan, but we must commit our way unto the Lord.  The next part of the verse says trust also in him.  Sometimes we plan our days without asking God what he would have us to accomplish that day.  There are many reasons our days do not go as planned.  Often times, we get distracted, or have unexpected events to occur; things that just knock us off track.      

Recently, I went to an area of a City I was not familiar with.  I map quested the directions to my destination and made it there okay.  But on the way back, I had to call for help as the directions could not get me back home.  The next day I had to make a second trip to the same location.  This time I had a GPS system.  The GPS system not only helped me get to my destination; but it helped me find my way back.  The Word of God is like a GPS system, it not only helps you to accomplish a task, but it provides life changing information should you need to “recalculate” your route.     

Psalm 37 provides wise steps to take as you face crises and decisions.  The Word of God brings eternal perspective and long term vision that prevents mistakes in short term decisions.  We are to trust in the Lord and do good.  We are to take delight in the Lord and to commit everything we have and do to him.  But how do we do this?  Committing ourselves to the Lord means: entrusting everything our lives; families, jobs, possessions to his control and guidance.  To commit ourselves to the Lord means to trust him believing that he can care for us better than we can ourselves.  We should be willing to wait for him to work what is best for us.  When things don’t go as we planned:

1.  Trust in the Lord and do good; do what is right despite what others do
2. Cultivate faithfulness and don’t move too quickly;  in other words don’t rush into anything
3. Prioritize God and His values:  He will reward and satisfy you in the end
4. Commit your plans to him and trust him; the results are in his hand
5. Be Quiet and patient; perspective comes when we grow still and think 

These are just a few things to help you better your life and relationship with the Lord. You are not alone.  I too, am trusting in the Lord.  I started out my year with goals, plans to accomplish some very specific things this year and already I have run into obstacles.  I don’t expect everything to be easy and without challenges.  Even the strongest person encounters frustration and sometimes disappointment when things don’t go as planned.   We must view obstacles as opportunities for our Heavenly Father to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we ask or think.  Psalm 37:23 – The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord; and he delighteth in his way.  A good person is one who follows God, trusts him and tries to do his will.  God watches over and directs every step that person takes.  If you would like to have God direct your way, then seek his advice before you step.   When things don’t go as we planned; maybe it’s because God has a better plan.  Hold on and be strong! 

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal:  it is the courage to continue that counts.” ~ Winston Churchill.  God Loves You and so do I…… Pastor Tammy

Our Greatest Natural Resource: People

Psalm  139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. 

Our greatest resource is not oil, or water, it is people.  While our natural resources have both monetary and non monetary value, so do people. Certain gifts and talents can yield a monetary value; just as gestures of kindness yields a non monetary value.     This is sometimes expressed in our culture as “money can’t buy love”.   The ONLY supernatural or spiritual resource is God, our Father.  

In the book of Genesis 1 God said:  Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness.  In what ways are we made in God’s image?  God obviously did not create us exactly like himself, especially in a physical sense.  Instead, we are reflections of God’s glory.  We will never be totally like God because he is our creator.  Our best hope is to reflect his character in our love, patience, forgiveness, kindness and faithfulness.  Human worth is not defined by possessions, achievements, physical attractiveness or public acclaim.  Instead it comes from being made in God’s image.  You have infinite worth. 

You are unique!  You are special!  You are fearfully and wonderfully made.  God took his time when he created you.  He placed within you all the things he wanted to be there.  He chose your hair color, and your eye color. You are so special your fingerprints are specific only to you.  Your gifts and talents are specific to you.  There is no one else like you in the entire universe.  Therefore, there is no need to compare ourselves to others.  We are an original.  A masterpiece!!    

The monetary value of natural resources is what people believe the value to be. Our ignorance can cause the resources to be greatly undervalued, which is a major problem. Like our natural resources there are people who will try and place a value on us that does not even come close to our true value. There are some who have counted us out and spoken some harsh things not only against us but against our destinies. They do not understand we have great value and lots of potential.  God loves us and His thoughts towards us are innumerable and precious towards us. 

Ps 139:17-18 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. 

God’s character goes into the creation of every person.  It is human nature to want to see how we measure up in comparison to others; especially if we think that they are better than us or have more of something we want.  We should not compare ourselves with others because there is no one like us and this makes us incomparable.  It is sometimes almost easier to look outside of ourselves and feel like we are lacking in comparison to other people rather than taking responsibility for our own progress in relation to the fulfillment of our life purpose. 

Each of us live under a unique set of circumstances, everybody’s life is not on the same track. We are working on different problems, growing at various rates on varied character traits. We experience different trials and have been influenced by our environment in distinctive ways. A true and accurate comparison is impossible by another human being. It misses the mark of perfection according to the truth of God.   Malcolm S Forbes said:  Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.   Remember you are the greatest natural resource.  God Loves You and so do I…Pastor Tammy