Mid-week Message

Greetings!

“Those who hope in God will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint.” - Isaiah 40:31

On Sunday we talked about putting our hope in God alone. The hope of God is an unending well of infinite hope that never runs out and is never dashed. As the Pandemic wears on, with a new variant bringing uncertainty to us again, putting our hope in God alone will give us the strength we need to carry on.

There comes a time in all our lives when we will be knocked down. When we fall prone like this, the question is who or what will we turn to to pick us back up. When we turn to God, God doesn’t pretend we didn’t fall. God doesn’t mask our pain. God doesn’t ridicule us or ask us how we could let this happen. Instead, God gets right down there with us. God is with us at our lowest point. From there, God gives us strength. God gives us perseverance so that we can contemplate standing up again. And then God takes us by the hand, and supports us all the way to standing again. God does this because we will be knocked down again. And when we are, we will not be in the same place we were last time. We will be stronger and more resilient. In this way, God builds up our faith so that eventually we always lean on God, always put our hope in God alone. We become so dependent on God that, when we fall, we don’t hit the ground, but instead we fly. We realize that God has always been there ready to lift us up on eagle’s wings—to give us strength not only to carry on, but to fly.

In this season of Advent, when we practice the spiritual discipline of waiting, put your hope in Jesus who will renew your strength.

Grace and peace,

Rev. Sarina