FAITH CONNECTION – FARMERSVILLE UMC
Ministry Updates for Thursday, November 12th, 2020
Scripture – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Reflection – Moving Heavenward
I have gotten to a point in my life where I have come to believe that no matter what happens, God is going to make some good out of it. The good God makes of things seems to be multiplied when I have faith. But whether I have faith or not, God’s desire to bring joy and meaning to my life seems persistent.
I do not like, nor will I ever like, feeling bad. But the truth is that good fruit seems to grow from even this tree which I so desperately want to avoid.
I am sure Jesus felt the same way about putting his life in the hands of the powers of his day. He wanted to avoid torture and death, if possible. Who wouldn’t?
But at the end of the day, God promised his momentary sufferings would not cast even a thin shadow over the pure light which would fill the world through his sacrifice.
On the night before his death, Jesus told his followers, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled.’ Really? If being told this miracle worker, this preacher of God’s love, and this man who called them ‘friend’, was going to die, how could that not bring them down?
We certainly have our feelings and there is no denying them. But faith is about something bigger. It is about trusting God is working things out.
So rejoice always? Yes, even if life does not feel good. God is on his way.
Pray without ceasing? Yes, but not for what we want, but for God’s will.
Give thanks in all circumstances? Yes, even when our heart cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel.
God calls us to a kind of positivity which says my situation is not the dictator of my heart and mind. Rather, the dictator of my heart and mind is the hope and the reality of God’s ever emanating love toward me.
Prayer:
God who we celebrate, God who hears our prayers, God to whom we give thanks, we take time in this moment to be hopeful about those things in our lives that hurt. We take time in this moment to pray, as we do in the Lord’s prayer, ‘Your will be done’. We take time to rejoice and to give thanks in all circumstances, for in faith we know you are working everything out in accordance with your love for us. Amen.