JULY 14, 2020
We welcome the lazy, hazy days of summer! I pray that you are well and making all the necessary adjustments to keep yourself and others healthy and safe.
Isaiah 54:2 tells us:
“Enlarge the site of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left…”
We are definitely in a time of God’s stretching. Everything around us is changed and changing. What we knew as familiar and normal is no longer. We are in a time of transition. We know where we have been, but we don’t know where we are headed. There is only one thing we can know for certain. God has not abandoned us. Jesus promised: “I will never leave you or forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5.) As long as we stick close to God, God promises never to abandon us. Jesus warned us that it wouldn’t be easy, but that he came to overcome our troubles (John 16:33.) He told his followers that the road he calls them to is hard, but that it leads to life (Matthew 7:14.)
We find ourselves in a rough patch now, following Jesus. The world around us is in turmoil… authorities and agencies called into question. We are plagued by an unseen, unknown virus which can bring illness and death. Our way of life and our very lives hang in the balance. The road ahead is bumpy and unsure. With the psalmist I pray: “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2.) It is a time to exercise our ‘flexibility’ muscles, to stretch out the cords of our lives, as Isaiah writes, to be ready to receive and contain more of God. Because no matter what the future holds, we know that just as God has been with us in the past, God is still present in our troubles, and promises to continue to be with us even into an uncertain future.
Take time to enjoy what you do know and love. Spend some time with God. Savor as well, these lazy, hazy days of summer before they are gone.
Rev. Yvonne Miloyevich