"From this time forward ..."

I am excited about being at the PC(USA) Big Tent. Wasn't so sure I would be... what with all that I've dealt with the last months. But that is probably just exactly why I chose to be here, to refocus my attention to the Spirit's calling, to be rejoined to others who have traveled with me on this path of ministry, to encourage and be encouraged for the journey ahead. Reading tonight I happened upon Isaiah 48:6b-7 "... From this time forward I make you hear new things, hidden things that you have not known. They are created now, not long ago; before today you have never heard of them, so that you could not say, "I already knew them."

Tomorrow the lessons begin; lessons about growing the church in faith, about stretching our arms wide to embrace the friends we have not yet met, about deepening our understanding of this mission that God calls us to. But for tonight, I anticipate what new things God will "make [me] hear," what "hidden things that [I] have not known." What does God have in store for Brookfield Presbyterian Church? What does God have in store for me?

Later in chapter 48 God continues (10-12), "See, I have refined you, but not like silver; I have tested you in the furnace of adversity. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for why should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another. Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called: I am He; I am the first and I am the last."

Have the trials been a "furnace of adversity" for God's sake? I believe God uses trials to supply new strengths to face the difficulties of life. God also uses weaknesses so that we are required to lean on God. For me, that was most tangible through the care, support, and love of my husband and a congregation of people. But for what? For God's sake so that together we can continue our pilgrimage of faith; so that we can better lean on each other when the times are troubled.

This is all for God's glory... not ours. Our devotion, our love, our very lives are owed to the One who called forth the foundations of the earth. It is to this Creator, the Lord Almighty, that we tarry on this path of faith. So much to learn... so much to share as we deepen our relationship with this mysterious God whom we love. Father, Son, Spirit-guide us in these days so we can hear the Word of your mouth in the midst of the words. Amen and Amen!