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

“Nothing shall be impossible unto you.” (Matthew 17:20)

In this scripture Jesus was rebuking his disciples for their unbelief. They couldn’t perform a healing and were perplexed. Jesus named their problem and at the same time encouraged them that miracles awaited them. Positive thinker Rev. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale (The Power of Positive Thinking) has encouraging words for us in a little booklet called ‘How To Handle Tough Times (1991.)’ He tells us in chapter 3: Un-Limit Yourself. Most of us live under self-imposed limitations, somehow collected through our life journey. Whether from family of origin or life experience, somehow the final message that repeats in our heads is: “You can’t do it. You’re just not capable. It will never happen to me. I’m just a loser.” Where and how the message got stuck in our head and life is not really important. What is important is to change that message and replace it with one that is God-inspired and God-honoring. If God says to us: “Nothing shall be impossible to you.” Who are we then to contradict? Dr. Peale writes that many people settle for less than God’s best for themselves. Their self-imposed limitations become habits which freeze them from moving forward and beyond into their God-given potential. Have you taken time to discover what is your God-given potential and gifting? Do you know that you were fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) for a special plan and purpose from God? God told his own disciples and tells us that nothing is impossible. Do we believe it? Or do our perceived limitations block this possibility? There are many kinds of self-imposed limitations. But a very common one is about growing older. Dr. Peale quotes some findings by medical specialists at a Midwestern clinic published in a newspaper story titled: Time Is Not Toxic.“Anyone who thinks that because he or she is getting along in years and expects to experience loss of vigor, debilities, or degenerative disorders, is suffering from a time neurosis, which may be more effective than physical conditions in producing the effect they fear.” Dr. Peale considers this a self-imposed limitation, the idea that you have to become old and infirm. Even the Bible seems to suggest that by fearing something we actually may be attracting that very thing. Job tells us in 3:25: “Truly the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me.” Here is Dr. Peale’s suggestion: Break the Limitation Barrier. “Whatever you do, don’t spend your life telling the world and yourself that you do not have within you the capacity to live a good life. We cannot conquer the big limitations by our own unaided strength. Faith in God will set us free.” God can free from self-doubt, feelings of inferiority, shyness, being overwhelmed by life’s difficulties, dishonesties, negative self-talk, from sins, from all kinds of limitations. What is it that is holding you back? What are you captive and slave to? Name it. Then turn it and your life over to God. Surrender it all to God, and God will truly set you free to be your best self and unleash your full potential. This Lenten Season, explore and identify your limitations, and God will reveal and unleash your potential. Dr. Peale leaves this positive affirmation with us: “God never willed that you should be less than you can be.”

Rev. Yvonne Miloyevich