Hello ICC Family!
13 I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.
Psalm 27:13-14 (NIV)
During college I spent one of my summers in Kazakhstan on a summer missions trip. I was assigned a group of Kazakh students to hang out with and share my life and my faith with. It was a significant enough experience that after I graduated from Kansas State University, I spent two years overseas as a teacher in Uzbekistan. After the first year, I helped host a team of university students come from the U.S. to do the same thing that I had done earlier and hang out with Uzbek college students. One morning I was woken by a phone call. About the only thing I understood was that I needed to come quickly. I arrived to find that one of our American college students had died in a tragic accident that night. It was an incredibly difficult tragedy for that team, and it didn’t help that I was young and inexperienced and really not equipped to shepherd the team through the days that followed.
I don’t remember very much about the last two weeks that team was there. I struggled greatly as it was probably my first direct experience with death. I do remember during one of our prayer times the Lord giving me the verses above. I am not sure I understood what they meant at the time, yet they were still incredibly comforting to me. Today, on the anniversary of 9/11 and just one week after the passing of Auntie Carmen, the verses are again on my mind. And I am glad that they are because they are verses of hope.
When I read these verses, I am reminded of two things. First, and very simply… that the Lord is good. And by good that refers to every characteristic of God that is a blessing to us - He is loving and caring and merciful and generous and kind and compassionate. He is many other things as well, of course. Emphasizing his kind qualities does not lessen his holiness or his perfect justice. It is just in this context that I think the Psalmist wants us to know that the Lord sees us, He knows us, and He cares. I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD…
The second thing which brings us hope then flows out of that goodness. Because He cares - everything He has ever promised will come to pass. Every prayer will be answered. And eventually everything will be made right when He comes gain. We just need to wait. Waiting is not easy, which is why the Psalmist says be strong and take heart. But if we wait… joy will come in the morning. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.
What a beautiful passage and a beautiful reminder! I hope that you can spend a moment reflecting on it today. There is much there to encourage us all!
I hope to see many of you at dinner and prayer meeting tonight. The young adults will be starting back next week with the Reeves, but please know you are of course invited to join us in the older crowd! Make sure you keep in mind Sep 28 at 1 PM for Auntie Carmen’s memorial service and then September 29th at 6 PM at Harbour Lake Baptist Church as they have invited ICC to their 5th Sunday Sing. I hope many of you will plan to join us there. They brought a large group to ICC for our worship night in July!
Laurel and I will be away this Sunday, but we are looking forward to hearing Pastor Jimmy preach on prayer. We will then be starting a new sermon series on the 22nd.
Blessings to you all. And know that I am praying for you!
Pastor Aaron
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