The Pastor’s Garage May 27th, 2021

*Pastor Mike’s Garage/May 27, 2021*

I won’t lie to you, as I sit in front of my computer to write this PG
I honestly feel like I don’t have much to say. I don’t feel particularly
inspired. Many times throughout my life, in fact, probably most of the
time, I constantly find myself on a time table that is behind what I had
originally planned or even on a course of life that was not planned at all!
This year is no exception. When I was booking my seed and fertilizer for my
farming dream last fall, I confidently told the rep I planned on seeding
the last week in April or first week in May. Here I sit on the last week in
May without a single seed in the ground! Now I have a myriad of reasons, I
haven’t been sitting around sipping iced tea! Life just hasn’t gone
exactly as planned. While many people assure me that their lives are no
different, to be honest, as I look around, it always feels like I am the
only one that struggles with this.

Last night while I was winding down from the day, I clicked on a
YouTube video of Rick Warren talking about when his son committed suicide.
He talked about how they were desperately praying for a miracle, hoping for
a strategy to manage, but the situation ended in tragedy. Now I believe God
performs miracles! I believe He also cares for us and wants to bless us!
But sometimes life has a way of throwing curve balls. Sometimes things just
don’t go as planned or desired! It was a pretty powerful video and I’ll put
the link to it at the bottom if you want to watch it but one thing he said
really stuck out. “The deeper the pain, the fewer words you use.” For the
most part I don’t know what you are going through today! I don’t want to
give you trite answers or strategies. I am aware that in light of eternity,
and compared to some of the things going on in the world around me, my
biggest problems are miniscule!

As I think about how hard life can be at times two sets of passages
come to mind. “We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise
us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. All of this is
for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there
will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. That
is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being
renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very
long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will
last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we
fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will
soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. “ 2
Corinthians 4:14-18 “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For
example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit
prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the
Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit
pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that
God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God
and are called according to his purpose for them. “ Romans 8:26-28

Pastor Mike