Dear Friends,
After the major COVID hit, and things began to reopen, Tim and I made a quick 1-day, much anticipated trip to Disneyland. I am the Disneyland lover, and Tim goes along and enjoys it, but not nearly as much as I do. Right away we hit the big rides that we enjoy and noticed that Splash Mountain was open. We had not been on it in several years. I was so excited, as it is one of the park’s icons. As we stepped into the log boat that floats freely on the water, and began the journey, we immediately heard the well-known zip-a-de-doo-dah song. We were enjoying the ride, having a zip-a-de-doo-dah time taking in the familiar scenes, moving along and taking the corners, when we came to the first small drop. I paid no attention and kept on singing and enjoying the ride, when to my surprise the small drop left me completely soaked from head to toe. That small drop immediately took the zip-a-de-doo-dah right out of my moment, and for the most part, the rest of the day.
In my sermon this week, I will challenge us to embrace discipleship, sharing the hurdles and fears we may face. One of those is that being a disciple of Christ will not be without trials. There are many times, sometimes days in a row where I feel I am not having a zip-a-de-doo-dah day, and when I am having one, it can take just one thing to change all that. In the middle of trials, stresses, and circumstances I have one particular scripture that continues to come to the forefront of my mind, But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. As a follower of Christ, like anyone else, we never know when we will encounter trials or problems. However, we do know the One Who knows it all, and His grace is sufficient to carry us through if we will surrender our fears, anxieties, and stress to Him; if we will replace them with trust in His Will and His love for us, a love that drives Him to always care for us and work things out for His glory and Kingdom plan.
He’s got the whole world in His hands (plans) and that includes you!
