Greetings, Everyone. 

I am continuing a sermon series I'm calling "Getting to Know You". This week, the verses requested are Romans 8:28, and Jeremiah 29:11. They are verses of encouragement in times of trouble. They remind us that God's love is steadfast, and surpasses any and all obstacles that befall us.

The passage in Jeremiah is written within a context of great peril and loss for Jerusalem. The people had been taken into exile to Babylon. They were ripped from their homes and forced to live in a foreign land. But God gives them these words:

"  ⁴ This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:  ⁵ "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.  ⁶ Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.  ⁷ Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."

Put another way: Grow where you are planted.

This is, of course, much easier said than done. We laud those who can do it, those who can pick themselves up and dust themselves off and try again- but of course it's not always that easy.

This week in particular, as we remember the events of 9/11/2001, we are struck by the long lasting effects of such a tragedy, particularly on those that suffered first hand.

It's easy to quote scriptures like Matthew 5:44: "... love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," but it is a far more difficult thing to do yourself, let alone encourage that others do the same.

We need the space to be angry first, to lament, to grapple with our new reality before we can begin to grow or forgive.

People of faith far too often feel that they can never be mad, never break down. We must always be upbeat - stiff upper lip, head high, always grateful. But if you've ever read a Psalm and read some of the things David did and said, you'd know that is not always the case. For us, grace sometimes takes time.

My encouragement this week is that whatever season or issue that weighs upon you, that in it you can find grace. But as you work to forgive the other, remember to forgive yourself along the way.

Even if "God knows that plans that God has for us, plans to prosper us and not to harm us," it must also mean that a portion of that plan is the space to be human.

Give yourself that space. Give yourself that time - and then see what God has in store.

Blessings and peace everyone,