At my house we have a 66-year-old husband, a 55-year-old wife, and a 17-year-old son. Everyone is involved in more than we can say grace over. And though we have each other; for which we are all very grateful; we daily shake our heads and strain our brains to maintain stability. Our church got a whole new pastoral staff this summer, and there have been multiple collateral changes. For one thing our son and I have been involved for several years in a close working relationship with our youth director who’s been here for 11 years and is now, just this month, moving on. Most of the kids we have worked with for 5-6 years have graduated from high school and gone off to college. The few that are left are struggling to keep the program together. As we look to the future, things are shifting. Seems like almost every week there is an announcement of another change in the leadership. Sometimes we almost lose heart.
But not for long. Do you know that if you trust God, you can have peace in your heart, in spite of all the crazy stuff that’s going on? Philippians 4:6-7. The funny thing is, in spite of all, when we focus our attention on Jesus, and think of all the great things He’s done for us in the past; how He’s taken care of us through think and thin, how He pulls our fat out of the fire, then we really CAN get some relief, because God really IS taking care of us. As Solomon said in Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding; in all your ways recognize Him, and He will direct your paths.” All the changes may be disheartening at first, but God has great plans for all of us, even when we have no idea what they are. Like Paul says in Romans 8:28, [God works] “all things together for good to those who love the Lord, to those who are ‘the called’ according to His purpose.”