Thursday, July 11, 2024

A Note of Encouragement from Pastor Alf

Dear MDPC Members and Friends,

I know this week has been (and for many still is) a profoundly disappointing time, with the cancellation of this year’s Summer Celebration; building and perhaps boiling-over frustration with losing power and the seeming slowness by our energy providers to get us back up and running; some PTSD among those who had especially hard times in past physical, emotional, or spiritual storms with near incapacitating anxiety and fear; and possibly questioning, “Why do I live in this part of the world” or “Where is God at times like these?”

It occurred to me as I processed these wonderings that it was exactly a year ago when I was supposed to speak three times in Luddington, Michigan during my sabbatical. Shari and I went to the airport to get our direct flight to our destination but, due to a soft United pilot strike, our flight was delayed and then cancelled. We were assured that Friday would work. We arrived back at IAH, parked our car, dealt with the hassle of the shuttle, got through check-in and the lines at security—then were delayed twice more, even having to shift gates.

Before we were finally told there were no flights to anywhere remotely close to my preaching location and that we would not be doing what seemed so obviously to us like God’s will and when I was questioning God’s power and care and love, I noticed a member of the congregation walking by the gate we should have never been at, and at a time we would never have anticipated ourselves. She had been to Nashville due to the tragic death of her son. I yelled her name, but she could not hear me. I raced to catch up to her and said her name very gently as I approached; she stopped, looked at me out of a deep fog, and then fell into my arms sobbing. We walked over to an alcove, cried, talked, prayed, hugged again, and then said we would see each other soon.

As Shari and I drove back home near midnight, disappointed and exhausted, it hit me that maybe one of the reasons for all the delays and revisions of gates was to put us right next to an opportunity to be part of a God-moment with one of God’s beloved. There was a chance to “love our neighbor as ourselves.” It was such a small thing I did, but Mona and I talked about it recently; how big a thing it was for her to know God had not abandoned her.

This may sound trite right now, but keep your eyes open (and maybe even pray) for opportunities to be Christ’s hands and feet, to carry someone else’s burden for a moment, to let someone support or care for you, and to exhibit more of the Fruit of the Spirit than just the usual Fruit of this world. Don’t let frustration blind you to God’s presence and God at work, even in the midst of the world’s brokenness.

Share with me your God-sighting when Shari and I return from our rescheduled speaking event in Luddington, Michigan this weekend. Hahaha. The irony of it all; it almost makes me laugh.

In Christ’s Service Together,
Pastor Alf