Trust and Rest

 

  Pastor Haven preached this weekend and his passage was Psalm 23. One of the assumptions that we could make of this passage is that everything is going well for David, but it’s not completely true. This is a season where King Saul becomes jealous of David because he was next in line for the throne, and that he was not only winning battles, but he was also adored by the people. So Saul decided to take matters into his own hands and go after David to end him. This caused David to go on the run and he ended up in a cave scared, hungry, and alone. In the midst of this, David wrote this Psalm. 

  To help give Psalm 23 a little more context, go back and read Psalm 22. It’s a famous Psalm because Jesus quotes it when He was on the cross. Jesus was asking why He was forsaken. If you were a first century Jew and witnessed Jesus crucifixion, you would recognize that He was quoting Psalm 22. This Psalm probably is David reflecting on his time on the run from Saul. This what makes Psalm 23 more important because even though David was on the run, He still trusted in the goodness of God and relied on His protection and promises. So when we are on the run and even pooping in a cave, who are you trusting?

  My first observation is that with God being our Shepherd is that He provides everything we need. I remember growing up and every fall we get the Sears catalog that had all the cool toys and clothes for the Christmas season. I remember going through the massive advertisement and wishing that would get all the cool toys. Here is the thing, I don’t remember getting any of those cool toys. Now I did get Christmas gifts, but there is a difference of getting what I wanted and what I needed. My parents were wise enough to know the difference. This is the same with God, He provides everything we need. Also, how many things do we want or we think we need will be our downfall if we actually get it? According to the ESPN Documentary, after two years of retirement, 78% of NFL Players are either broke or under financial stress and five years after retirement, roughly 60% are bankrupt. Having everything isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. In the documentary, former NFL quarterback Bernie Kosar essentially said that when you are broke, no one recognizes you and that is a blessing because they are not hitting you up for money for “great opportunities.”

  My second observation is that we need to be intentional about finding rest.  As many people can attest to, life gets super busy. From working, to various family/friends obligations, and projects around the house means that someone or something is always demanding our attention or time. If we are not intentional about being restful, it won’t happen. Even if we claim that we will rest when the current project is wrapped up, it probably won’t happen because something will demand our attention. When this happens we need to develop healthy boundaries and learning when to put off till later or even saying no. There are times where we need to prioritize our time with God and our mental health because others likely won’t. also means that we do things that are restful.

 Being intentional means knowing the activities that drains us and another activities that restores our soul. For each person, this is different. For me it’s doing laundry, so when I need to rest and for my soul to be restored, I don’t do that. Instead, I grab my camera and head to a local trail or state park to take pictures. This allows me to connect with God and to be constructive. Or if I need a change of pace, I go catch a midweek matinee movie by myself and the theater is usually fairly quiet. If we are not intentional and create plans to rest and connect with God, we end up either becoming super busy and we end up crashing and burning or we accidentally spend hours scrolling on our favorite electronic device and we become mush. If we are not intentional, it won’t happen, no matter how much we want it because we do what we prioritize even if cost us dearly. So are we prioritizing time to rest and to commune with God?

  The biggest take away that I took is this concept of trust and who do we trust more. Do we trust God that his gifts and peace are perfect and what we need, or do we trust ourselves to go out and get what we need? Trusting God is the only way we will find peace and rest. Now there our things that we have to be responsible for and do, but it is trusting God to provide the things that only He can provide. I know there are some of us who have a hard time of creating healthy boundaries and saying no and sticking to it. The only way we can find true rest and peace is when we trust God completely. 

Grace and Peace 

Tom Boustead 

Living on a Prayer

    Pastor Fred continued the current  series by preaching from Ephesians 6:18-22 and the focus is prayer. Throughout his writings the Apostle Paul references prayer or prays for believers multiple times. Prayer is so important that it is one of our core beliefs here at Journey. So here is my question, how is your prayer life? Is it something we only do when our backs are against the wall or something big is coming up, or when we remember or feel like it?

 My first observation on prayer comes from my favorite C.S. Lewis quote of “ I pray not to change God, but I pray so that He changes me.” So here is my question on prayer, what is our intention when we pray. Is it something that we can get what we want or to make God more like us? If that is the case, either God isn’t all who He says He is, or that our egos are pretty inflated and we think we are better than what we really are. In the Lords Prayer, there is the famous line of “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” It is saying that Gods plan and glory comes before ours and the only way this happens is if God changes us. 

 My second observation is that prayer is a form of communication. Just a thought, if you don’t communicate with a spouse or a loved one, how is that relationship going? My guess is that it isn’t and there could be a lot of hurt and miss managed expectations that comes from this.  The same is with God, how can we know what He wants when we don’t talk. One of the foundations of ant relationship is communication and it is true with God. As we see throughout Scripture, there are many forms of prayer, whether it is a prayer of praise, lamenting, asking God to provide, questioning, to even a prayer of yelling at God because we are mad. Different seasons require different prayers, and my challenge is are we doing them on a consistent basis and for moe than thirty seconds. 

 My third observation is that God commands us to pray for our enemies. If we spend any time watching or reading the news or our social media pages, we realize that we have an easy time distrusting people and creating enemies, especially those who are in power. This is my guess, we would rather crucify them rather than praying for Gods grace for them and that they might walk with Jesus. Even something more radical, how about we pray that God will bless them. Here is the thing, when we pray for our enemies, we might realize that we play a bigger problem in the situation and we are the ones who need to seek forgiveness. In essence prayer is the great equalizer. 

  My final observation is this, when we pray, are we spending time listening? Prayer is more than giving God a laundry list of things to take care of. In all reality, God isn’t a Genie whose sole purpose is to answer our wishes. Any part of good communication is the art of listening not to respond but to understand. I have a running joke with my mom that we don’t tell each other things. Most of the time the problem is that the information does get shared but someone isn’t listening. As the band MercyMe points out in their song, Word of God Speak that sometimes in prayer we are a at a loss for words and that is ok. 

Grace and Peace

Tom Boustead

Gifts

 

  Pastor Fred continued our series by peaching out of Ephesians 4:7-16. The crux of the message is that we all are a part of the body of Christ with various gifts and that we need to use them not only for the church to run well but it is our form of worship. Using our gifts causes us to be stretched and to grow. 

  My first observation is that God calls us to something unique and special. In essence God gave us a particular gift to use so that we can glorify Him. Even though the two same people may have the same gift, it looks different because of how God has wired us and how He wants us to use it. For those who are gifted with kids, some might be called to children’s ministry and others are called to the foster care system. Same gift, it is just being played out in two different ways. I know when I am out taking pictures, I have met some unique people and the conversations have been random at best. I have even shared by faith with people that I have encountered.

  My second observation is that the gifts are suppose to bring growth and unity. How often when we are using our God given gifts do they stretch us and take us out of our comfort zone. Gods gifts are not only designed to bring Him glory, but for us to rely on Him. How often does God call us out of our comfort zone? Whether it is public speaking, to God having us call out the elephant in the room with family or friends. We can’t always be true Minnesotans and be passive aggressive about everything. If we are truly to use our gifts for God and to do great things, we need to rely on Him and not on our own strength. 

  How Gods gifts bring unity is that our gifts can not operate independently from each other. Just as a baseball pitcher relies on their catcher and defense to have a good game, we need other Christians using their gifts to make our gifts go and to make more of an impact. We all have a role and how our we using it? In order to make something go and run well, everything needs to work and work well. Just like a vehicle, if the battery doesn’t work, neither the lights will work and the vehicle won’t start. This is the same with the Christian faith, if we don’t do what God calls us to do, the church will not run as efficiently as it could or should. This is where unity comes in, it is going in the same direction for the same purpose.

  My third observation is that no one gift is greater than another. How many of us want what I call the big beautiful gifts. Whether it is teaching from the stage to running the sound board. We all have that one gift that we desire and we think is a little better than the rest of the gifts. I will be honest, one gift isn’t better than the other, because they all are used to glorify God. Whether it is sweeping up Cheerios after kids church to fixing a single mom’s car for free, it’s all about glorifying God. Gods gifts are perfect and He gives is those gifts because He has wired us a particular way so that we can reach out to particular people. So instead of whining about the gifts we do have or the lack of the big and beautiful gifts we don’t have, how about using what God gives us to glorify Him

  I will close with this, and that is we all have gifts and God expects us to use them. How often do we think that something isn’t our job or someone is better suited to do it and then it doesn’t get done. When this happens, things don’t run as smoothly or they fail. Also, when we use those gifts, we tend to grow and mature. In essence, God is calling us to get off of our hands and to grow up so we can use our gifts to worship Him. Using our gifts doesn’t save us, but should be a response of what God has done for us and through us.

Grace and Peace

Tom Boustead