Last week 170 children attended Music Camp. Sunday evening they shared with us what they had learned about the life of Joseph. By God’s grace I pray that knowing Joseph’s story, they will better understand their own. And therefore, when life becomes terribly difficult and seems horribly unfair, they will be able to rest in the knowledge that Joseph’s Lord is their Lord, and that He is now working in and through their circumstances to accomplish His eternal purposes. By faith, they will know that when evil seemingly triumphs, in fact it is God’s mysterious and yet good purposes which are prevailing.
As was true in Joseph’s life, it often takes years before God’s plan is understood and His purposes revealed. And in many cases it may not be until Glory that we finally see and understand. But here and now, by grace through faith, we can know that He is working all things together for the good purpose of making us more and more into image bearers of Him, that our lives might praise and glorify His Holy Name and be used by Him to bless others.
What more could we ask? What more could we want? He loves us. For us He suffers the horrible consequences of our rebellion against Him. In our place He suffers and dies. By grace through faith He delivers us from the pit. And then, He opens our eyes, unstops our ears, illuminates our minds, recreates our
hearts, and changes our wills, so that we find within us a passionate desire to know Him and to make Him known.
He tells us that because we live in a fallen world, we will suffer the consequences of its corruption, of our sinful foolishness, and of the sinfulness of others. And at times, these things will threaten to overwhelm us.
But, as with Joseph, so it is with us: that in our suffering we may be tempted to believe that evil has triumphed, but in fact those things that we must endure are part of the means by which our Lord is moving us closer to that day when all His enemies will be put beneath His feet.
Frequently it seems we are asked to defend what appears to be a meaningless position against an enemy whose continuous attacks threaten to overwhelm us; but we know that the battle is the Lord’s, it is His commands we are to obey, and that no matter how long and bloody the conflict, victory is assured.
To all who have worked so long and hard this past week to teach and encourage our children – thank you! Thank you to Jeremy, Melissa and Mindy for their tireless efforts. And while I would thank all who served and taught, I want to thank especially all the middle school and high school young people who were so vitally a part of this endeavor.
At the end of this week many of our members and their children will travel to Reynosa, Mexico to work with the Isaiah 55 Mission, a ministry to the deaf children of that area. To assist you in your praying, here are the names of those who are a part of this team:
Heidi and Christine Armao; Nathan, Julia and Olivia Bowers; Emily Elwood; Jay, Bev, Kelsey, Jonathan, Zach & Daniel Fowler; Mark, Beth, John Mark and Eric Griggs; Jay, Susan, Taylor and Andrew Helton; Tori Henson; John and David Herberich; Hope Horne; Jamie Martof; Mark Miller; Eric and Boo Mullinax; Emilie Musto; Andrew Smith; Mike and Olivia Tawzer; and Emily Vatt.
Pastor Caines