Hi everyone,
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I didn’t sleep well last night. Why not? Because of the forecasted snow, of course. Pretty much without fail, the snow comes at the least convenient time, and today was no exception… because we had church. And the forecast called for snow basically all day, which meant that there should be a lot of shovelling… but looking outside now it seems pretty clear.
So while that is a relief, I still feel a bit on edge. Like I have my shovel ready, but I also just want to take a nap. We’ll see what the weather brings and how much truth is in that forecast.
It’s funny though, isn’t it? The weight we put on the given forecast. I mean, technology has only gotten better over the years so you’d think they could be more accurate, but still we get incorrect information. Yet, we still trust. We still believe. We still put our hope in what we’re told, in that we plan and work around what they say.
Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a bad thing, as the forecast we get isn’t always wrong. It’s proven itself over time. And while things aren’t always accurate, it’s accurate enough that I’ll make sure I don’t put my snow gear away just yet.
Here are the readings for next week:
Isaiah 6:1-8
Psalm 138
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Luke 5:1-11
and a video of me reading them:
Sometimes it’s hard to trust in things, especially things that are beyond our scope of knowledge or expertise. I’m not just talking about the weather forecast, but I see how Isaiah was a bit reluctant to trust in the glorious God before him, and how Peter couldn’t even stand to be in the same vicinity as Jesus after this miraculous pull of fish. I can tell they were intimidated and probably a little scared.
But in the end, they also trusted. They believed. They put their hope in this deity that didn’t just promise them good things, but actually gave them good things.
I think in this world now we see a lot of empty promises. We might fall for them, we might dismiss them as false, or we might not even listen because our minds have already been immovably made up. At the same time, we are also given nuggets of blessing and grace. We are shown places where God is present and might quell our skeptical minds. We are led into the peace of God’s mercy, where we are reminded time and again that God is with us, God holds us, and God redeems us into God’s salvation.
I know, that doesn’t sound all that trustworthy because it is so grand, but in this day and age I believe a little faith can take us a long way. A long way into community, right relationship, and the salvation from our own shame and guilt.
Thanks be to God! Have a great week, everyone!