A Muted Response

For the past 2 weeks, this blog has been silent. The reason for this is because last Monday, my father-in-law had an unexpected and completely unforeseen stroke. As you might imagine, in the midst of dealing with the medical issues and all the paperwork that extended hospital stays entails, writing a blog, while never far from my mind, has been relegated to the pile of "things I'll get to later." And when I finally did get to it, I had to decide whether to write about the incident or not. I decided to do so, for one very important reason; in the midst of this, God has graciously taught and reminded me of important things, and I want to share these things with you.

1. God's graciousness has nothing to do with our worthiness - When things are going well, when we are doing the things that we know we aught, and we experience God's grace, we sometimes act as if its disbursement makes complete sense. After all, even in our sinfulness, we find it easier to be gracious to those who we perceive as being "good." However, just like the rain falls on the wicked and the saint, so does the sun, and God's acts of grace are prompted solely by His love, and never by our worth.

2. The church is meant to be a community. When it acts as such, there are few things in this life more precious. - Although I've been a part of a church almost my entire life, never before I have understood so clearly why God formed it to be a body of believers. Upon sharing the news of my father-in-law's stroke, we were immediately afforded encouragement and support. People we did not know were praying for us and offering assistance, and this in a situation where everything has more or less turned out o.k. (I can only imagine the response of my church in a prolonged crisis.) The abandonment of this call is probably the reason so many churches find themselves searching for direction.

3. Never underestimate the power of prayer. - We may never know how God uses the prayers of His people to bring about His purposes. Even when we don't see the results, they have an effect. Don't neglect it, and don't be afraid to share with others what's going on, so they may bring your needs before our loving Father. The work He wants to do may be in their life, as well as yours.

4. We are forced to take one day at a time in a crisis. This is good advice for every other day too. - God demonstrates His faithfulness on a daily basis. Worrying about tomorrow does no good, for His work for tomorrow has yet to be revealed.

4. Always write blogs ahead of time.  - You may never know when a crisis will hit, and you won't be able to posts for a few weeks. :-)