Good morning…
Yesterday morning, tragedy cut short the life of another young man, a young man for whom I love to serve homemade Stromboli. Now, huddled together, we nestle into the nurturing nest God has built for our online community. How do we respond to this special kind of grief, processing the life-changing loss of family and friends ravaged by the effects of angst and addiction? How will we care for the needs of the most helpless, most vulnerable among us? How might we ground down into God, our immovable Rock, the Redeemer of every living thing?
“Hindsight is 20/20,” they say, but this week has offered keen foresight for us. As we savor this Sabbath, we scroll back over our week of past posts to witness God preparing the heart of our community to endure another devastating loss. Sharing life’s load, morning by morning, this week God pulled down our sail, hand over hand, disconnecting us from the whirlwind of the world, quietly carrying us on the unforced rhythms of grace. Simplify. Stop. Stop before starting.
Now I step back to marvel at God’s powerful presence among us this week.
- What if you had laid your pen aside for the summer and these messages were missed? Yes God would continue to speak in other ways and His presence would still be felt, but we would have missed the blessing of seeing Him work through the connectedness of this community.
- I am smiling as I see why God has you writing this summer. People are hurting and transitioning and need His perspective. They need the nurture and support of community and of our Lord.
- Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace” (Matthew 11:28-30, NLT and MSG).
- God’s love is meteoric, his loyalty astronomic, His purpose titanic, his verdicts oceanic. Yet in his largeness nothing gets lost; Not a man, not a mouse, slips through the cracks (Psalm 36:5-6, MSG).
- Then suddenly a large scale, mass tragedy struck, and miraculously, together, we were shielded from harm, cocooned in God’s care, kept safe, sound, secure. Why panic? The unforced rhythms of God’s grace cover us completely, day after day, dark night by dark night.
- I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness, the taste of ashes, the poison I’ve swallowed. I remember it all—oh, how well I remember—the feeling of hitting the bottom. But there’s one other thing I remember, and remembering, I keep a grip on hope: God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out, his merciful love couldn’t have dried up. They’re created new every morning (Lamentations 3:19-24, MSG).
- “Simplify, Sue,” I sense the Spirit say. “Shed your expectations. Shake off control. Surrender to Me, everything.” I shed. I shake off. I simply surrender. Now quietly I am drawn back to the key verse from the Scripture I was studying: And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3, NIV). The whole earth is filled with his glory. The whole earth is filled with his glory. The whole earth is filled with his glory.
- “Stop.” “Let go.” “Try less.” “Quiet down.” LORD, let my words be few as I meditate upon You. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable and pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my [firm, immovable] rock and my Redeemer (Psalm 19:14, AMP).
- Stop worry. Start trusting. Stop tension. Start breathing. Stop criticism. Start thanking. Start with God—(Proverbs 1:7a, MSG). Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that’s where life starts. Don’t talk out of both sides of your mouth; avoid careless banter, white lies, and gossip. Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions. Watch your step, and the road will stretch out smooth before you (Proverbs 4:23-27, MSG). God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes (Psalm 18:20-24, MSG). Trust God. Breathe with God. Thank God. Here. Now.
Being both sorrowful and unsurprised, God knew we would wake today on the morning after another heartbreaking tragedy. The LORD went before us, drawing us to the stability of our unmovable Rock and Redeemer. We must remember God’s promise today and each day: “Not a man, not a mouse, slips through the cracks.”
…Sue…
