Making Sense of It...

I was thinking about how much we dislike what doesn't make sense.

Today I listened to people argue about how many jobs had been lost or created during the Obama presidency.  Their numbers were as different as whipped cream is from wallpaper.  That gap doesn't make sense to me.

Yesterday I did my monthly M.S. treatment.  While the nurse was cramming a needle the size of a Big Gulp straw in my arm we casually talked about a medication I stopped taking because I didn't need it anymore.  He told me that some Neurologists think you should never stop and others say you should only take it when you need it.  That difference doesn't make sense to me.

I have a wiper on my wife's car that's broken.  It will wipe one direction and then not return.  It just hangs off the windshield as if it were waving at the world.  Why did one break?  They've both been used exactly the same amount from the moment the car was born.  They both have faced the same weather.  They both were made with the same specifications.  Everything wears out, but why did just one of them transform from a wiper to a waver?  That reality doesn't make sense to me.

We don't like it when things don't make sense.  "I don't like onions and love onion rings."  My wife and I have had that conversation.  I know I have issues that don't make sense to others.

My conclusion - the alphabet of faith has to have letters in it we can't pronounce to be faith.  If not, it would be impossible to grow.  God is present in questions too.  Faith is required to have dark shadows of the unknown.  Maybe we fixate on the shadows to the degree it's impossible to bask in the sun.  I know the shadows are there.  I'm ok with that.  It's better for me walk in the light than to complain about the shadows.  When HE wants me to see there, HE'll show me.That makes sense to me… kinda.

Welcoming Feedback:
What doesn't make sense to you about faith?
Can you find peace in questions?
What doesn't make sense to non-faithers about faith?

Pastor Dave

Reflecting & Trusting

It’s a quiet Thursday night.  TV’s off.  No music playing.  Leah’s at Ann Arbor.  It’s me a book, my Bible, my laptop, and a cup of coffee.

Do you get reflective when it’s quiet?  I do.  Not the “look at old photo albums” kind of reflective when you mourn how fast time is going (which is the same speed since creation).  The kind of reflective where I look back and look ahead.

Here’s what I’m thinking about tonight.

1.  I’ve got nothing to whine about.
I wonder if busyness teaches us to take for granted what we should be celebrating.  Too often I don’t take time to really reflect and be thankful.  It seems that it takes less effort to let my mind wander into reasons to complain.

I won’t list what is causing my heart to be thankful right now, it ranges from the really obvious to the private.  As I flip through the pages of blessings in my mind I realize everything is not flawless, but I’ve got nothing to whine about.

2.  I’m never alone, fear is always there to keep me company.
But, Pastors don’t have emotions… especially yucky ones, do they?  This one does.

This is not the time for a religious cliché.

Fear is always around sometimes as parasite and sometimes as a flesh eating elephant.  It may hide behind a thought or it may hide everything else behind it - but it knows when to show up.

I don’t think we are supposed to run from it or pretend it’s not there.  I think the best move is to hold on to the Truth.  Fear doesn’t like that, it feeds on non-truth or twisted truth.

3.  It’s hard to imagine the depth of God’s love.
I don’t know why he loves me so much.  I know me and I’m not that impressed.  When I look back I can think of a few reasons to give up on me.  When I look ahead I can imagine a few more that will come up.  When I look at right now I know He sees both directions and keeps loving.

4.  I really like my church.
We make mistakes.  We’ve got our flaws.  We can’t stand in the “we do everything right” line.  But, I love who God is making us.  We’re people that are growing.  We’re people who need grace and know where to get it.  I can’t imagine me anywhere else right now.

5.  The Holy Spirit is still the Holy Spirit.
I need Him.  We need Him.  As I look to the new season I wonder how many actions I will do that are fully dependent on Him.  I wonder how many times I will quench His work.  I wonder how many times He will whisper to me at just the right moment.

It’s been a very busy summer.  A wonderful summer.  I’m reflecting on the summer and trusting for the fall.

That’s not a bad way to spend a quiet night.

Pastor Dave