For the inspiration for this post, please read Psalm 103.
There is so much in our lives that we take for granted. I live about 10 miles from my office and while using a four-lane city street, I recently noticed there are approximately 12 restaurants and 24 gas stations between those two locations, many different choices just in case I need a fill-up…one way or another. And when I do get home, I approach my garage; press a button, the door opens and the lights go on. Press another button and the door closes behind me. I can then enter my house, turn on a light switch and light up the room. From there I can open my refrigerator and once again there are all kinds of things to eat and drink. We tend take those things for granted. But that wasn’t the way things went last September on the east coast. When Hurricane Matthew slammed into the coastline, everything those folks had and in many cases probably took for granted, was threatened. Houses were destroyed. The electricity grid went off line leaving 2.2 million homes and businesses without power. Emergency supplies dwindled and disappeared. Even drinkable water was in short supply. Most folks didn’t know what they had until it was gone. And so, in Psalm 103, David starts out praising God, and then it says: “Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” He’s saying: get into the habit of being thankful…right now! Get into the habit of not forgetting what God has given you. God loves us so much that He’s not only willing to meet our physical needs…but also gave His only begotten Son that whoever would believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Over the course of about 2 years from 2010 to 2012, I was able to go on five mission trips to Haiti immediately following the devastating earthquake of January 2010. When I arrived, I was shocked at the crushing poverty in which the people there lived. Most of the people there had little in the way of “personal property.” Homes for the most part were at best, one room shacks, with no electricity. There was little food to be had and as well as little clean water. But through all this, I was amazed at many of the Haitian Christians’ positive outlook. In fact one young Haitian adult said, “There are people in this world that say we are poor. But no one is poor who has Jesus.” Though these were poor by this world’s standards – they were cheerful and optimistic. Why? Because God was on their side and they knew it. Do we believe that too? That God is on our side? That we are rich in the love of God? Then let’s prove it by the way we live our lives. God bless.
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Bio
I am a UMC pastor, appointed to serve as a chaplain for two senior adult living communities. My wife is a general music teacher and middle school band director, and we have two sons – 18 and 14. Archives
March 2020
Reflections From The Run
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