FROM PASTOR MIKE’S DESK:

Brothers & Sisters in Christ!

            Sometimes I can be a very impatient person … especially when it comes to this time of the year. Spring is here, but then it feels like winter again, and then spring is here, and then some more winter like cold and wind. Flowers have started popping up out of the ground and some of them are even blooming. The grass is turning green and I’ve even seen that some people have already mowed their lawns. I’ve been itching to get outside, work in the yard, mow the grass, and work in the flower beds … but I guess I have to wait a little longer.

            The season of Easter has to be one of my favorite seasons of the church year. I love the whole Easter story and the promises of eternal life which come with it! I love moving from the darkness of Good Friday to the bright atmosphere and the loud triumphant hymns we sing about Christ’s victorious resurrection from the dead. It is through this victorious Easter resurrection in which our hope and excitement of eternal life is made real. I’ve been itching to sing these great Easter hymns … but I have to wait a longer.

            And I’m not the only one who has had this impatient problem. Paul in his letter to the Philippians (1:23-24) tells about his eagerness, his anticipation of being with Christ. But yet at the same time he knows that it is necessary for him to remain here, to remain in the body. Paul is torn between the two. Not knowing what heaven is like, but knowing that he would love to physically be with Christ and not having to deal with being persecuted, sitting in prison, or having to deal with sufferings of the present time did have its appeal … but he was going to have wait a little longer.

            Same could be said about Job. Throughout the book the man is suffering. Suffering from the loss of his family, his wealth, his health. He has dedicated friends who give horrible advice and a wife who thinks he should just curse God and die. Job couldn’t wait for the suffering to end … but he was going to have to wait a little longer.

            I’m sure there are times we feel like Job or like Paul. Looking out at the world around us, heaven and being with Christ sounds pretty good right about now. But … that is not what God has planned for us. Right now, God has called you and me to be right here, to be in this place at this time. This is our home, this is where God wants us to be so that we can do what He has given us to do … love Him above all things and love our neighbors as ourselves (Matt. 22:37-40). We cannot do that if we are not here. Paul recognized this as he says, “Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith” (Phil. 1:25).

            We at times may be impatient and are eagerly anticipating the next thing coming, but the things is … there is no guarantee that the next thing is coming or that tomorrow will even come. God has called you and me to be His children now. God gives us His amazing grace and unconditional love today. Yes, He will give it to us tomorrow and the next day, but we have no idea if those days are coming. We will just have to wait and see.

            What we do know is this … Christ came into the world to be like you and me, to experience everything we go through on a daily basis, to suffer and die for the sins of the world (including yours and mine), and that He rose from the grave to defeat death and to give the promise of eternal life to all who believe. This is the hope and promise which you and I live our lives for today … and each and every day we are blessed to live.

            Even as we go through these last days of the season of Lent with the eager anticipation of celebrating Easter and singing those great hymns of Christ’s victory … know that God is with you … every single minute of every single day … and you will one day stand before Him in perfection, behold Him with your eyes, and know and see that your Redeemer lives! And that my friends, is something worth waiting for!

            God’s blessings to you and a blessed Easter!

            In Christ,

Pastor Mike