Word from our Pastor
September 2021
Dear Friends,
Greetings in Jesus’ name!
One of the most difficult verses in the New Testament to understand and accept is, …give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1Th 5:16-18) It almost seems like it is unfair on the part of God to expect us to be always thankful.
Does he not know the disappointments that we are facing? Does he not know how hurt we are because of the way someone has treated us? Does he not know that we have lost our loved one to the pandemic? Does he not know that we have suffered loss in our business in these last one and a half year? Does God not see how we have been restricted in our expression of public worship? Does he not see how we are being targeted and maligned? Does he not see how we have been misunderstood as a community? Our finances have dropped as our salaries have been cut. We have lost friends and bread earners. And there are many more in our circumstances that do not make us feel thankful.
We have been having a bad year and that hardly makes us feel thankful!
I believe we can try because,
Firstly, we believe that God is the Creator, Sustainer and Saviour of human beings and is Sovereign. The prophet Jeremiah declares, ‘Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you. (Jer 32:17) God is Creator, with awesome power and nothing is too hard for him.
The Bible repeatedly reveals to us that this awesome Creator and sustainer God, for whom nothing is impossible is for us.
Secondly, we are thankful because in Christ we are a New Creation. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2Co 5:17) Because we are a New Creation we can respond with thanks even in the midst of our problems and pain. In Christ, we have the power to be thankful even during adverse circumstances. The Holy Spirit empowers us to be thankful.
Thirdly, we have examples in the scripture and real life who were thankful during difficult circumstances.
David was thankful and could sing praises God even when he was in difficulty. I will always bless the LORD; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. (Psa 34:1)
The prophet Habakkuk was another example, he says, Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fails, and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. (Hab 3:17-18)
Figs blossoming, fruit on the vine, harvest producing fields, flocks in the stall are all signs of hope. But, in this judgment, there are no signs for the future. The trees do not bud, there are no grapes on the vine and there is no food in the fields. And yet he says I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
Can we say that though evil appears to prosper, though the pandemic does not seem to end, though loved ones die, though your dreams are not yet fulfilled, though you may not have the desires of your heart now, yet you will rejoice in the Lord God of our salvation? Can you say that during pending trouble?
God wants us to depend on Him, His power and His plan for our lives and wants us to be thankful in all circumstances.
This month we will focus on being thankful to God and for his work in and among us. Let us cultivate an attitude of gratitude as individuals and community.
One of the saints of the yesteryears H.A. Ironside says, “We would worry less if we praised more. Thanksgiving is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction.”
May God make us into a community where there will be more expressions of an attitude of gratitude and praise despite our present circumstances!
God Bless You!
In Christ
Pastor John R. A. Simeon
(On behalf of the Pastoral Team)
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