God has invited us into a great story. His story.
It’s a story about how God created us and made us and “it was good.” Then God watched as human beings rejected Him and began to stumble and falter and go their own way.
It’s a story about how God remained faithful even when we were faithless. A story about how God made a plan by which each and every one of us could be saved from the power of Sin that had gripped the entire human race.
God sent his Son to die on a cross for our sins so that we could be free. So that we could experience a better chapter in our story.
And God saves us and invites us into the story. He invites us to be a part of his plan for helping others find out about Jesus and giving them a chance to enter into the story as well.
There are victory chapters in our story. Chapters where things are going very well and we are strong and we are walking with God in power and wisdom. Those are great chapters.
There are other chapters in our story that aren’t as nice. Chapters where we turn from God and go our own way. Chapters where we refuse to step out in faith and we struggle and stumble around a bit before we realize once again that we need God and we just need to trust him and walk by faith. There are slavery chapters where we have given ourselves over to bondage in some form and we need the help of God to bring us out. There are plague chapters where life just seems to hit us over and over again and it just does not seem to stop. (Hey, 2020 kind of feels like that!) And there are “coming home” chapters where faithful saints pass on to be with the Lord and we feel their loss, but we know it is our loss and their gain, and we will still see them one day.
So what chapter are you in?
How would you describe this season of your life?
Is it a good one?
Is it a tough one?
Do you have enough strength for today?
Do you have enough hope for tomorrow?
In Psalm 95, the psalmist invites us to enter into God’s presence. He says,
Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for he is our God. (Psalm 95:6–7a, NLT)
He says, let’s remember that even in this difficult chapter that we are going through, God is still God! Let’s remember who our God is! Come, let’s worship him. Exalt him. Give him the Glory. Give him the praise. Keep God at the center of your life. At the center of the story.
Then the psalmist reminds us that we are cared for. He says,
We are the people he watches over, the flock under his care. (Psalm 95:6–7, NLT)
The great news is that if you have a relationship with God where you worship him and show him reverence, God promises that he will care for you.
No matter what chapter you are in God promises to care for you. He has entered into a covenant relationship with you. A relationship where he has said, I will care for you. You and I may not always be faithful, but God has promised that he will always be faithful to us. We may struggle, but God promises that, because of Jesus, he will never leave us or forsake us. He will always be faithful to us.
In other words, as we stick with the story, as we continue to hold on to Jesus, as we give God the glory, no matter what chapter we are in, then things will eventually turn out for good. God will be faithful. The one who watches over the flock under his care will be faithful to us.
The only challenge for us, as we stand in the middle of the chapter we are in, (and sometimes this is the most difficult part), the psalmist invites us, implores us, pleads with us, to keep listening to God’s voice. He says,
If only you would listen to his voice today! (Psalm 95:6–7, NLT)
Some of us are in a chapter of the story that we don’t like. How are we going to make it through?
I want to offer three quick thoughts.
First, walk with wisdom.
Remember that you serve a God who has been faithful in the past. And God will be faithful to you today and tomorrow. So there is no need to panic. There is no need to scramble. There is no need to worry. Just take a deep breath and ask, “What is the wise thing to do?” And then do that! Walk with wisdom.
Second, move forward in faith.
Say to yourself, “I am going to stick with the story even though I don’t like this particular chapter.” Trust in God’s protection. Trust in God’s provision. Trust that God will help you to deal with and solve each problem that comes your say. Move forward with faith.
Third, make it God’s story.
Give God the glory. Give God the praise. Lift up his name. God is saying to you, “Watch what I do.” Just watch me. Give me the glory. Do the wise thing. Move forward with faith. And then watch what God does. Watch how He moves in your life.
Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for he is our God. We are the people he watches over, the flock under his care. If only you would listen to his voice today! (Psalm 95:6–7, NLT)
In His Grip,
Pastor Steve
Watch live-stream on Hillcrest Website https://www.hillcrestchurch.net/live-stream
Pastoral letters https://www.hillcrestchurch.net/news
Realm signup https://onrealm.org/HillcrestChurch/Register
Need an invitation to RightNow Media? Contact: info@hillcrestchurch.net
For updates, please check https://hillcrestchurch.net/, our Facebook account, or follow us on Realm.
How to give: https://www.hillcrestchurch.net/give
Hillcrest Connects https://www.hillcrestchurch.net/hillcrest-connects
https://open.alberta.ca/publications/covid-19-information-guidance-for-places-of-worship