Capsized and Adrift

The promise of God is bigger than our experience. The promise is good even when we don't think it is. God's promise does not depend on us.

This week we've been following the story of Nick Schuyler, who managed to cling the engine of his overturned fishing boat. He was rescued. But his three friends (Marquis Cooper, Will Bleakley & Corey Smith) were nowhere to be found.

On Sunday evening, in my absence, the Lord worked among the members of the Alpha leadership team to renew people's faith, hope and love. Email testimonies were shared yesterday. Other people in our church and community, however, are still feeling lost.

It's good to be rescued in this life. It's good to have our spiritual lives and "feelings" restored. But does God love us less when we are still lost or still down in the dumps?

The cross lets us know otherwise. Many times we do not feel like we are going to be safe or saved. Fortunately, however, God's promise does not depend on us. It is trustworthy forever.

Our Lord wants to gather, week after week, to remind us of his love so we do know ourselves to be loved and not forgotten. As God's love is shared in our midst, many of us will feel better... and that's good. But even if we still feel lost, God's promise is still good!

Sometimes, all we can do is cling to the promise. Sometimes that's all we've got.

Look at this wonderful blog post from Will Vaus (click colored words). He talks about how our spiritual life is like a train, with faith and feeling following the "engine," the great FACT of God's love.

I hope you'll read what he has to say. He concludes by saying:

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is unchanging, regardless of my faith or my feelings or even my knowledge about it. That Gospel is the engine which pulls my little life along, even when my faith is minuscule and my feelings constantly want to jump the track in one direction or another.

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Hebrews 13:8

Hallelujah! Amen.

I hope you will know God's love through the cross of Christ for you. I hope you will be lifted up through that great gift so you do not feel lost. But even if you do feel lost today or tonight, God will always be there for you. He will never abandon you.

The Psalm for this coming Sunday (Psalm 22) shows this very clearly. The cry of Jesus on the cross echoes the cries of so many in this world. But God's promise remains secure:

They shall come and make known to a people yet unborn
the saving deeds that he has done.

It's God's promise we can trust. We can rely on the fact that he died and rose again for sinners like you and me--even when our feelings and even our faith go up and down like a ship, capsized and adrift on a stormy sea.