Forward

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. - Jeremiah 17:7-8 

Faith...Trust...Believe. 

Discouragement...Doubt...Despair.

I don't know about you, but I had hopes that by now - July 17, 2020 - we would either be beyond Covid-19 or at least close, finding a new normal that wasn't too far from the old normal. I did not anticipate that it would be worse (at least here in our part of NC) with a growing case load and hospitalizations on the rise. 

I thought schools would be ready to open for the new school year with safety protocols in place that might require some effort but not much. Now it looks like if schools do open, there will be major changes in place that no matter how well thought out will be not fit everyone's needs. 

I thought our economy would be on the verge of just starting on the way up, jobs would be coming back and we would be on our way. 

I had high hopes that churches would be regathering on a wide scale with an even greater outreach through a continued online presence. 

I had high hopes that the end would be in sight. 

I was wrong. 

Maybe, you are facing something similar. You might be dealing with something that doesn't have easy answers, where you've tried multiple things that didn't quite work, or you just find yourself dealing with frustrations, difficult options, or a lack of clarity. 

It feels like one of those times when you are spending the night somewhere unfamiliar, and it's dark, and you don't know your way around and you have to get up and yet you cannot see the way ahead. 

So, what do you do? You turn on a light. You grab your phone and even with the little light it gives off from the screen, you can find your way. 

We need a light like that to get through these times. 

That light is called "faith". It goes by the name "Trust." We learn that more than ever, we need to trust Jesus to see us through. We need to lean on Him and trust that He does have a plan for us, a path for us, and that it leads somewhere good and that He is good. 

It is a time to grow in our faith. It is time to learn a greater trust in Jesus. It is time to look to Him and rely on Him and that when this is all over we will find ourselves in a place where we can say, "Look at what Jesus did to get us through." 

This Sunday, we start a new series, "FORWARD: Living a Great Faith through Uncertain Days". We'll be exploring the actions of everyday people facing extraordinarily tough situations who turned to Jesus in faith and found what they needed - healing, restoration, hope, community but above else they found Jesus. 

Join us online or onsite this Sunday as we continue to explore what it means to follow Jesus by faith through uncertain days. 

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. - Galatians 5:6