by Jen Balkey
There is a myriad of thoughts that likely cross your mind as we enter into the Thanksgiving season. How can I be thankful at a time when everything is upside down? Of course I have many things to be thankful for! Are you kidding me, another holiday affected by this virus - when will it ever end?
This year has been full of many challenges and disappointments for sure. But, I HOPE you have seen God show up and your relationship with Him has gotten stronger! This past month in Women’s Ministry we hosted a 2-day Fall Gathering. The focus was to look at the situations and circumstances in our lives and see how these can be seen as a setup from God to meet us… not seen as a setback. Our speaker, Kendra Pope, used God’s Word to show how – Righteous Rejoicing Results in HOPE. Our lives - in Christ - are full of HOPE.
Kendra utilized a multitude of scriptures to drive her point home. We were reminded in Romans 5:1-5 how we have been “made righteous” by our faith in Christ. And that, from Romans 4:23-25, any good that comes from us - is actually from Him! If we desire to do anything good - we must surrender ourselves and our will to Him. Furthermore, we see that our ability to rejoice in sufferings is made possible by our surrender to God. It is absolutely not natural or concurrent with our culture to rejoice when things are hard, out of control, and contrary to what we think we want or need. It is God who allows us to see these hard times as an opportunity to rejoice. Our character (righteous) and response (rejoicing) can be used to share the Gospel. In times of trial our faith is our most valuable asset!
Kendra Pope
The ONLY way we can get through hard times in a healthy way is to depend on Christ! There is what we see & there is what God is doing. It can be easy to get too wrapped up in this life that we lose sight of God’s promise for eternity. Hardship and heartache move us closer to Christ - if we turn to Him for His comfort and rely on His promises. Instead of seeing things with our human eyes as setbacks, look to Him and see what He is doing, and see how you can use these “setups” to draw close to God and share the gospel with the world.
Are we willing to live in God’s Kingdom agenda? Trusting Him? Recalling regularly that this life is NOT all there is? The more we know of God, the bigger He seems to us. Jesus is our eternal confident expectation. Our hope.
As you lament the differences the coming season may hold, I (Jen Balkey) pray that you can recall His promises and look for the “setup” that God is working for your good. Are you, or might you, grow through upcoming challenges as you look to Him? Praise Him? Share the hope you have with someone who may need it? Might you have righteous rejoicing that results in HOPE?!?!
Grace & Peace & HOPE to you while we endure together. Thankful to Him for Kendra and her faithful service in sharing His truth with us! And many more thanks for the testimonies that were shared during our time together which is evidence of all that God is doing in the lives of women we know!
