9/5/18 – Pastor Brian’s Blog –
Yesterday, Judy and I were driving back from Fairport, NY after spending time with the newest addition to our family, our grandson Micah Baguma. If you haven’t seen this handsome young man yet, just go to my blog from last week and you can see pictures of him shortly after he was born.
On our 8+ hour trip home, I happened to listen to some of the Brett Kavanaugh Senate hearings on the radio. What a contrast! The joyous occasion of meeting and visiting with my grandson and the embarrassment of listening to the leaders of my country acting like immature little children. As I write this, I feel like I owe “immature little children” an apology!
For a moment, I felt like I had moved back into time, into that historical novel entitled, A Tale of Two Cities… “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” Charles Dickens.
Hope? Or despair? You choose from this morning’s headlines… “Rancorous, partisan start for Kavanaugh high court hearing” (Associated Press), “Political theater mars Kavanaugh hearing” (Fox News), “Fireworks as Kavanaugh hearings get underway” (NBC), “Chaos marks start of Kavanaugh Senate hearing” (Chicago Tribune). Then I read that the Capitol police arrested 70 people at these hearings, and that my elected “leaders” interrupted the procedure 63 times, and that is only before lunch!!
Hope is hard to find if you have the wrong focus. Despair can become overwhelming in the “Tale of Two Cites.” Yet as a Christian, the city we need to focus on is the city that is yet to come. Not this “city” that we can now see. As a Christian, we do not serve a God that shows a blind eye to what is happening here on earth. On the contrary, we personally know a God that is sovereign, not only over all creation, but also over everything that is happening in Washington DC, Beijing, Moscow and every other city, town and hamlet throughout the world.
When God speaks, He will back it up with action… As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:10-11
When God speaks to you, when He says something to you from the Bible, you can trust Him completely, because our God does not lie… A faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, Titus 1:2
Placing our hope in God is not like wishful thinking, instead it is a confident expectation. Those that are without Christ may wish things will change, they may wish that their circumstances will improve, but the God of the Bible makes things change. When Paul writes… And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 You can put all your trust and hope in that God. When God asks you to do something and you’re not sure that you can, you probably can’t, but God will… The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:24
When our government seems to be running amuck, when we wonder if anything good can come out of our elected officials, when we are embarrassed at their actions, take courage, don’t lose hope, because God’s got this covered. Remember He put them there… Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Romans 13:1
So be encouraged today, because God is all over this… Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23
Oh, by the way, when I woke up this morning Judy informed me that I am a grandfather again, as our 18th grandchild was born… Ellory Elizabeth Gower was born last night at 10:13 weighing in at 7lb 10oz.
Don’t lose hope! There may be 2 cities, but there is only one God!! And for our family, God just came through again on His promise… Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him. Psalm 127:3
We have a confident hope in everything God has promised!
