Saturday, March 8, 2008

 

How Will They Know Series

 

Acts 2:47 “Praising God and enjoying the favor of all people”

 

We Are Not Alone

 

Once upon a time as a boy in Cronicville we were lifting bushel baskets of corn and putting them in the wagon.   My friend and I had been able to lift the baskets without any difficulty but the last container of corn was a rather large crate and too heavy for us. We tried with all our might to pick up the crate but could not.   

 

My grandfather was passing by on the tractor.  He idled it and stopped to watch our efforts.  Finally he said, “Boys are you using all your strength?”    “Yes, we are” we both exclaimed.   “No,” Grandfather said calmly, “You are not.  You have not asked me to help.”    

 

In life we commonly think we have to do things all by ourselves.  The truth is we have other resources.    Yesterday, a young person in our church became very sick.   Her mom and dad early in the morning were by themselves at the hospital until people began to find out.   The hospital suddenly was inundated with many, many people who had come to help them carry the burden of this illness.   I have seen and experienced this many times within the life of a church community. The people of the church are so compassionate about the needs of others. They always want to make a difference so they call or just show up and do all they can to help.  I love being a part of the Christian family because I know I am never alone.   In these years I have developed great friendships who carry my burdens with me.  It is also the privilege of my life to help them sometimes carry their burdens.  

 

The greatest resource we have is God.   I cannot tell you how many times in prayer God answers my needs.   Recently I was struggling with the idea of the summer preaching series.  I was reading the Bible on the treadmill and praying about this, when suddenly it popped into my heart to do a series on “Conversations with Jesus.”  I knew that came from the Lord who had answered my prayers.    

Many times I have not known what to do and God has patiently shown me the way.   I have known that God gives us “a peace that passes all understanding”.  In times of grief and pain He calms our spirit.   Many times God has given me an assurance that what I am doing is right and I don’t have to be in doubt.  

 

Many times there are burdens too heavy for us to carry alone.  It is easy to panic, however, chances are we are not using all of our resources.   We have not asked our Christian family to help and we have not trusted in God.   We do not have to rely just on our own resources. 

 

Prayer:

Dear God, help me to trust you.  Amen.