GroshLink

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Please take a moment to pray for the family/friends of Victoria, a young woman of God from our local congregation who passed away with acute leukemia on Wednesday evening. As you may remember I presented on the question of Is God listening? in relationship to our first child's passing and I pass along the link to these reflections (and an excerpt below) for your benefit as you pray for the family/friends of Victoria (and others) when life sucks, i.e., the fallen-ness and/or brokenness of creation is in our face. In Christ, Tom

Despite the victory God has achieved over Satan in the ministry and resurrection of Jesus Christ, everything has not yet been made anew. The enemy reigns, but his doom is sure. The cross signifies the turning point in the cosmic struggle, when God became one of us and he not only pointed the way, but became the way out of this world. Jesus enables us to see and know who God is, and as we look at Jesus we see a God of compassion, loving kindness, long suffering, mercy, grace, renewal, restoration, refreshment . . . A God who does have power over death and the ability to in the last day make everything anew and afresh, to wipe away every tear, to bring people together across tribes, tongues, and nations.  God listens. He has acted. We won’t get everything we want, but we get something much richer -- all that we need. All the true inner yearnings -- belonging, identity, security, significance, forgiveness. How do I live in a world where things go wrong, I listen to God, I rest in him. I’ve stopped wondering whether God is listening and started listening to him, the whole world looks different, He and His purposes are my frame of reference instead of me and my wants.