“But ask the animals, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you; ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being. Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food? Is wisdom with the aged, and understanding in length of days? “With God are wisdom and strength;” Job 12:7-13

“God’s coming is always unforeseen, I think, and the reason, if I had to guess, is that if he gave us anything much in the way of advance warning, more often than not we would have made ourselves scarce long before he got there.” (Buechner, Frederick. Listening to Your Life. HarperOne. Kindle Edition.)

There are places in our lives where we expect to encounter the presence of G-d, and there are places we never expect G-d to make an appearance. And yet, as Buechner says, “God’s coming is always unforeseen”. Now you might say, well if G-d’s presence is always unforeseen, then how can we expect to experience G-d in church, or anywhere? Simple, one Sunday you might experience G-d in the Word, while G-d may be speaking to me in the hymnody, or the meal. And the next Sunday you may experience G-d in the presence of your brothers and sisters in Christ and the gathering of the assembly.

You see, G-d’s coming is unforeseen, for we just never know where the Holy Spirit will enter our lives, our very hearts, to comfort us, confront us, or even convict us.

When we repent of our sins, and when we come to our senses to realize how “wise” are the words of G-d, and how mysterious our G-d really is, we are always grateful for the forgiveness that amazes us and surprises us.

Understanding how we fit into this world can be very hard. The same is true with understanding the many ways G-d works in our lives. But when we repent of our sins before G-d and realize how wise G-d’s wisdom truly is, we increase in knowledge, and see better the ways of Kingdom living. 

Pastor Dave

“Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.” 1 Kings 19:1-9

“My husband bought an exercise machine to help him shed a few pounds. He set it up in the basement but didn’t use it much, so he moved it to the bedroom. It gathered dust there, too, so he put it in the living room. Weeks later I asked how it was going. “I was right,” he said. “I do get more exercise now. Every time I close the drapes, I have to walk around the machine.”

“Never question the truth of what you fail to understand, for the world is filled with wonders.” (Buechner, Frederick. Listening to Your Life. HarperOne. Kindle Edition.)

Elijah was despondent. He feared for his life. He had determined that life was not worth continuing, and so he prepared for the end. But, G-d had another idea – and he was about to send Elijah upon an incredible journey. As such, did Elijah feel thankful for the provisions he received before he took “a long journey”? We are not told, but it was enough to strengthen him so he could make it to the Mountain of G-d. At Mt. Horeb he faces not only G-d but the awesomeness of G-d. And G-d gives him his instructions – he basically tells him to “go and do what needs to be done”.

The bread and wine in communion we receive each Sunday may seem like a meager meal, but it is enough to give us the spiritual strength for G-d’s work. In this bread and wine we see the awesomeness of G-d – and having received the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation, we too are told to “go do what needs to be done”.

I say each Sunday, “Come to the banquet table where Christ gives himself as food and drink”. It is spiritual food and spiritual drink — to sustain us to do G-d’s work. And we give thanks to G-d every time we partake of this meal.

Pastor Dave