Do you ever have any of those 'woe is me' days? You know what I mean: Days when it seems like everything is too hard, nothing works out like it should, too many things to do and too little time to do them.
Do you ever have any of those days when you feel like it would be much easier to stop serving the Lord, stop fighting the battles, stop giving a rip, and just coast?
Do you ever have any of those days when it is much, much easier to gripe and complain than it is to be thankful and joyful?
If so, you may not want to read what I read in my devotion time this morning...
Hebrews 11:24-26 NIV By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.
Stuck right in the middle of all of those 'by faith' verses in Hebrews 11 is this dart of conviction for all of us who have occasional 'woe is me' attitudes. I wonder if Moses ever thought about going back to the palace. I wonder if he considered walking like an Egyptian for a while. What would have been so wrong with that? Nothing, aside from the fact that God had called him to something different. Nothing, except that God had called him to something better. Maybe it was harder, sure, but it was God's plan and God's choice. And it was going to turn out to be a blessing for Moses if he had enough faith not to quit half way through.
O.K. Lord, I won't quit, I won't stop pushing forward. But you don't understand how hard it is sometimes...
Then I got to the bottom of the page in my Bible...
Hebrews 12:4 NIV In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
Which put into perspective the two verses that preceded it...
Hebrews 12:2-3 NIV Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Wow! Maybe I should just keep my petty gripes and complaints to myself.
Now, as I step off my soap box...
We've had a pretty good week around here. Sunday was a very good day. We've had many comments on what we talked about in the message time on Sunday morning. I'll have more to say about how you can get plugged in this Sunday. (By this time next week, Pastor Shawn should have the sermon audio's up-to-date on the web page.)
At my house, we're back in the swing of school. As some of you may know, we homeschool, and so everyone has their role in this endeavor. My main role is Math teacher for Hannah. Last night after dinner we learned why square roots are called square roots. Hannah has such a heart for learning, she makes it fun to teach her. This morning at breakfast, we talked about why it is important to read your Bible every day. This homeschooling thing is one of the smartest decisions our family has ever made.
Today is a day of studying. I've got about an hour of paperwork/phone calls/emails to do, then nothing but studying. I enjoy these days.
Tomorrow, the Salyer Connect Group is coming over to my house to watch a movie in the back yard. Somehow I've got to figure out how to put a screen on my hill, secure a projector so a kid doesn't destroy it, and get sound. (I've considered just turning on the closed captioning and not worrying with an amplifier and speakers.) Where's Jeff Brooks when you need him?
Pastor Noel Dear
