Another Pastoral Epistle 8/7/18

“Sunshine without rain makes a desert.”  That Arab proverb reminds us that all living things can’t live on sunshine alone.  We all understand the need for rain.  Without rain, drought conditions make it ripe for the latest wildfires burning across California.  Please pray for the thousands affected by this deadly blaze.  
 
Without rain, things dry up.  Sunshine without rain makes a desert.  That is true for our spiritual lives.  Without storms our souls are at risk of drying up.  I am reminded of the prophet Jeremiah.  All was not well for him.  There is an entire book written about his experience with storms. Have you read through the Old Testament book of Lamentations lately?  Why read a book of laments?  That would be just too depressing.  In Lamentations we find these statements;
   
   “All the people groan”
   “My groans are many”
   “My heart is faint.”
   “See, how distressed I am”
   “My eyes overflow with tears.”  
   “I am tormented within”
   “My eyes fail from weeping”
 
Why would anyone look to this book for edification? I admit, it isn’t as fun to read as say the book of Ruth or the book of Esther, but it is rich in its usefulness to our lives.  The Bible meets us where we live life.  It has room for every element of human experience including overwhelming human sorrow. Do you know sorrow?  
 
Lamentations does not offer quick and easy solutions to the suffering we are experiencing.  It will not give you cheap cures.  But it can show you how a loving and gracious God can work through even the most painful moments in your life.  It is in the book of Lamentations that we find those familiar words, “His mercies are new every morning, great is your faithfulness.”  
 
Be honest, when are you most likely to speak of God’s faithfulness?  Under what conditions do we sing with enthusiasm, “Great is thy faithfulness”? For Jeremiah, it was when he was at the lowest of lows.  These words came after, “I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is.” It is on the heels of these words, “My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”  (Check out Lamentations 3:1-20).  
 
When the storms come into our lives; when the rain falls, “call this to mind,” Jeremiah says in verse 21, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions (his mercies) never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”  He then puts his finger on why he can praise God in the storms- verse 24, “I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’”
 
So when the rain of life comes remember that the Lord is your portion and without the rain your soul would dry up.   God is faithful to speak to you in the storm. Great is God’s faithfulness! Always!
 
Sufficient in Him,
Pastor Brian