Pastor's Desktop Article for March 2014

“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.  Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.  For in this hope we were saved.  But hope that is seen is no hope at all.  Who hopes for what he already has?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”

(Romans 8:22-25)

            When will this winter be over??!!  It seems to just keep coming, and coming.  And even what we are expecting this week-end seems like it will be another wintery blast.  But, take heart!  Spring is coming.  We’re into the month of March, and while we shouldn’t expect too much in the way of temperatures in the 60’s or 70’s, it will be a great deal warmer than it has been recently.  Hope is on the way.  There is light at the end of the tunnel.  We can be assured that God will keep the patterns of the seasons coming as they have in the past.

            Our lives can get to the place where we can have some of that same sense.  The older I get, and I’m only 51, but the older I get, the more I see myself aging, more things aching, more things I can’t do anymore, or at least not as easy as I once did.  You can think about yourself, how you are feeling, what you are going through etc.  Things can seem overwhelming, especially if it’s been that way for long.

            But you know what?  Hope is on the way.  In fact, we have hope, a certain hope right now.  As our passage reminds us, it’s not hope if we can see it, if it’s here right now.  So our hope is for what has been promised to us in Christ.  We “wait eagerly” for what we know to be ours in Christ, “the redemption of our bodies”. 

How long will we need to wait?  I don’t have the answer to that question, but I know that God does.  Likely, it will be different for everyone, unless Christ returns first.  But we don’t wait as those who have no hope, who have nothing to look forward to after this life here on earth.  We wait and hope for the salvation of our souls, the gates of glory, and being in the presence of the one who both created and redeemed us.  What a glorious thing that will be!

As far as spring goes, trust me, it won’t be long until the flowers are blooming.

                           

By His Grace Alone,

Pastor Bruce Jacobsen