Isaiah 64:4 Meditation/Memory

Hi EACF family,

As you know, we are still searching for a new lead pastor, even as Pastor Dave gets closer to finishing up as our interim pastor in the course of about 1.5 months. 

Some of us may find ourselves understandably growing anxious, wondering why God seems to be taking so long to bring us a suitable lead pastor. After all, it's 2023- can't we just get one on Amazon Prime (as PD has joked before)? Is there actually any of us that wants to wait? We can find ourselves tempted to be flustered/impatient at something so small as when someone with a stuffed grocery cart happens to be in front of us at the checkout line when we only have 2-3 items in hand. (Btw true story- happened to me just about a week ago at Lidl). 

But hear/read how the prophet Isaiah speaks of the Lord: 

"From of old, no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him."

Our God shows up on behalf of those whose hope is NOT in their own abilities, accomplishments, intelligence, wisdom or experience- but for those who trust, hope, and rely solely on the Lord's sufficiency and generosity. 

We also know that the kind of waiting Isaiah meant was certainly NOT the passive type that says, "Well, God's going to do what He's going to do, so let's just roll on with life and see what happens." (Isaiah 62:6-7)

So how can this passage speak to EACF at this particular point in time? 

1) Pray 

As we begin the season of Lent this coming Wednesday, I want to encourage you not only to be praying for your individual walk with God, or even only for a pastor for EACF. I ask that you would intentionally be praying for God's larger purposes for EACF as a body of believers- not in a detached sense as if we're praying for some kind of "light bulb" moment (e.g. finding a pastor) that would allow us to feel like life can get back to "normal". Pray for nothing less than God's wisdom to be displayed through this local body of believers at EACF (Ephesians 3:10), and for us to discern together what that should look like practically. God wants to grow us out of "normal" so that the fruit we bear by His Spirit would indeed be a faithful witness to His glory and grace. 

2) Don't waste this period of time. 

The Lord has sovereignly ordained this particular time for us-- and this time of waiting, hoping, trusting, and pleading to Him together is meant for our good and ultimately for His glory. God means to grow us into His likeness and to expand our hearts for His kingdom whether in the presence or in the absence of a lead pastor. Not having a lead pastor is forcing us to listen that much more carefully to the Holy Spirit, and is teaching us to actually become doers (and not only hearers) of the word. We can trust that God through His promises has provided all that we need to grow into His likeness (2 Peter 1:3-4), and that He who began a good work in you will carry it to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 

So come EACF, let us pray together fervently and faithfully, rejoining in hope in His goodness, and enduring patiently in affliction. May the Lord bind us together through love and grow us in a way that only the Spirit Himself can enable. 

Finally, I'll leave you with a new acronym to help you pray: :-) (HT to David Platt)

P- Praise

R- Repent

A- Ask

Y- Yield

Grace and Peace,

Mike

Romans 8:38-39 Meditation/Memory

 "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

This passage is likely familiar for many of you, as it comes at the end of one of the most famous and oft-cited chapters in Romans (read it in its entirety!). 

As I thought on this passage, I dwelt on the phrase 'nor life'. It's common to think of Christ's salvation as being rescue from death as the final word- and it is certainly is that- we were freed from lifelong slavery to fear of death (Hebrews 2:15). But the older I get, I see and experience the truth of how life in all its twists and turns, can threaten one's sense of security in God's love. We can find ourselves seeking comfort and security in human relationships- and making them idols by prizing them over our Lord. Or we can seek that sense of security in accomplishment, wealth, power. None of these are bad things in and of themselves- viewed from a proper perspective, they can all be gracious gifts from God. But when they become ultimate, watch out! 

In the parable of the sower, Jesus mentions those who receive the word, but are choked away by thorns symbolizing "the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things" (Mark 4:19). These things ultimately make one unfruitful for the Lord. 

Yet even in the face of such real threats in life- Paul is sure (and we can be too!) that such things in life cannot separate us from the love of God. 

But let's not allow ourselves to mistaken this passage to mean that since we are ultimately safe in God's love that therefore our lives will be free of hardship. 

Recall that Paul is the same person who wrote in a letter to the Corinthians that he felt burdened beyond his strength so that he "despaired of life itself" (2 Corinthians 1:8) You may or may not have found yourself in a similar state of mind/heart as Paul- anyone familiar with Paul's life will know that he endured more hardship than most of us will ever know. And yet, because of Christ's death and resurrection, he knew he could be sure of his security in God's love. 

May the Holy Spirit be reminding us of that rock solid assurance that because of Christ's finished work on the cross and His resurrection- that nothing- NOTHING will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!