The past few weeks have flown by and been so busy! How about you? Feel like ‘Where did the time go’? I certainly found myself caught up in the celebration of Shavuot and Pentecost, and then Trinity Sunday. Living in, and sharing, precious and significant moments with friends and church family.
We enjoyed having quite the crowd to celebrate Shavuot with us. Remembering and entering into the story of the 10 Commandments at Mt. Sinai, and the giving of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. When we see ourselves as part of the story, God’s story, we begin to understand more fully why events in the past have shaped what is happening currently. Not only did God give us laws to live by but He also gave us the Spirit to help us wisely discern His laws. Seeing how God worked in history helps us understand the present and look forward to the future.
“What about grace?” you ask. Grace and law do go hand in hand. While the law condemns us when we break it, grace forgives us, when we ask for it. God gave the law as part of His covenant promises. Apostle Paul wrote that the law can’t fix everything that is wrong with a broken world but through Jesus Messiah we can find grace and victory.
Do you ever beat yourself up when things go awry? I do. When a plan doesn’t go as well as I would have liked, or someone or something doesn’t meet up to the level of expectation, I find myself wondering what I did wrong, or didn’t do enough of, could I have said something different or spoken in a different tone of voice. The struggle is a spiritual battle that we fight every day. I have arguments in my head all the time! I also over-anticipate and overthink what might happen next. When I finally get to the point of asking God for help, that’s when I finally find rest – and grace.
Apostle Paul talks about the struggle quite candidly in Romans 7 and 8. He discusses the effects of sin and juxtaposes death with the life that is found through Jesus Messiah. Then he uses the imagery of family to show how we are adopted into His family through salvation. We get adopted into His forever family and become His children and therefore His heirs.
So, when the details of the day seem overwhelming and you just want to crawl up in a ball and hide, or something that didn’t go according to plan, remember that God is on your side! (Oooh, I rhymed!).
Nothing can come between us and the love of God’s Anointed. Can troubles, hardships, persecution, hunger, poverty, danger, or even death? The answer is, absolutely nothing
(Rom 8:35).
During this season of Ordinary Time, let’s take time to rest, re-connect, re-create, and re-evaluate.
O God, who has taught us to keep all Your commandments by loving You and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of Your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
(The Book of Common Prayer)
Shalom!
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