From: Les Young [pastorles@comcast.net]
"Plans and Steps"
Date: Jan 6, 2007
Dearly beloved of God:
Happy New Year to everyone. My prayer for you can be summed up quite well in a Scripture passage that was read during our services yesterday.
3 John 1:2 (NIV)
2 Dear friend(s), I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.
It is God's provision and intention that those who believe in Him and who trust Him be healthy and that their lives be accompanied by His blessings. He wants things to go well with us; that our work, plans, purposes, families, etc. go according to His will and direction. And so we understand that God's blessings through redemption in Christ are intended to meet both physical and spiritual needs. The phrase "that all may go well with you" in the original language literally means "to have a good journey, to be led along a good road." I think John was praying that as we walk in the truth of God's revealed will, that we might experience the reality of the full and abundant life that is in Jesus. (John 10:10) As Paul put it, God promises to supply the needs of our lives "according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)
Juxtaposed to this is the Bible teaching that sometimes we will experience difficulties or needs in order to be encouraged to trust Him even more, and to develop our faith and spiritual endurance to higher levels. Thus, the "good road" along which we are being led may not seem familiar, comfortable or pleasant at the moment. That's when we have to trust Him all the more. There are bends in the road around which we cannot see, but He who is leading us is able to see the end from the beginning. That's why we are told:
Proverbs 16:9 (NIV)
9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
Since the Lords determines our steps it is best to trust Him.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
It's one thing to know a Scripture or two, it's another thing to live them. The past couple of weeks Barb and I, and others in our family have been living them in some very obvious ways. Most of you received from me the news that Barb's mother died on December 19th, along with the testimony that God's grace and provision were very evident during the days just before and after. We had a wonderful week with Barb's Dad, Nick. After Emily's affairs were settled he came back to CT with us for Christmas. He made some new friends and renewed some old acquaintences. Barb took him back to Old Forge on Wednesday and came back home, all in the same day, thanks to a good friend accompanying her. Thank God for friends - one of His wonderful provisions.
Sunday was supposed to be a celebratory end to the old year. Our son-in-law, Don was to be installed as an elder in our church. The plan, the message, the tag-team preaching - everything seemed just right. Then early Sunday morning his wife (our daughter Candy) got sick, and the sickness got serious enough to require hospitalization and surgery (gall bladder removal). So here we are, on New Year's Day with some bumps in the road. Friends and family are pitching in, needs are being met, and Candy is undergoing some further procedures concerning her bile duct. But you know, God is in charge. And I've found that it is tougher to say that and believe it when concerns someone you love as opposed to yourself.
Here I am, 5 days later. When I finished the last sentence in the paragraph above, I ran out of words, so I just saved the draft and waited. All week I have been waiting, while feeling that I should be doing something to lead people into a New Year full of vision and promise. In the end, all I can say is that we have some things planned for 2007, but as good as they seem, our steps may take us elsewhere. As the old saying goes, "I don't know what the future holds, but I do know Who holds the future." And may I add that He is good; He is faithful; He is trustworthy. Follow Him, and He will lead you "in paths of righteousness for His Name's sake."
God bless you in 2007 and always.
Yours for His Purposes,
Pastor Les
