27 Days

 It has been 27 days since I last wrote anything other than prayers and messages. Life has been a blur of getting Brenda back and forth to physical therapy and doctor appointments. Then there are my weekly responsibilities at the school, and of course time devoted to message preparation. It has not been idle time. 

I have thought about writing many times. I felt the subconscious pressure that it has been a long drought. Too long. I could not get in the creative groove. Truth is I did not feel inspired enough to write. Now sitting in my office waiting on an appointment that is will start in about 12 minutes, I could not put it off any longer. I had to get back in the saddle and write something. 

I looked at the date of my last post and did some mental math to deduce that 27 days passed since I last jotted down anything. I don't think most people missed it all. Life kept right on churning without my input. I know I am not a highly sought after author. 

I write for three reasons. First and foremost, God called me to do it. Before I was ever saved I had a passion to write. Writing is an extension of my ministry. Though I love to preach, I also love to write. Secondly, I want to glorify God and help people through the writing ministry. I am not sure how much good it does. I am not a best selling author. Nor do I have thousands of people hitting this site to read my latest posts. I still hold onto the hope that some God inspired idea will help someone on some given day in some way. I am not looking for accolades. I am not after padding my pockets with money. If I can help people and glorify God doing it that is reward enough. The last reason I write is, it is therapy for me as I work through Bible passages and write about the things God shows me. Sometimes I have work through my own difficult seasons and writing helps me do that more effectively. 

On this day, it simply started with the thought of the number 27. It reminds me of Psalm 27:14-15. God has used these verses in my life time and time again over several decades. I can read them and recall times and places where God ministered hope to me. We all need hope. Hope the the trial will end. Hope that seasons of peace will follow the stormy seasons. Hope that God will make a way when things look hopeless. 

There are times when it seems like things will never get better. I recently talked to a man who told me about he and his wife both losing their grandmothers within days of each other. On the way home from one of the funerals, the a/c went out in their vehicles and this couple has two small children. Then the husband got Covid and their oldest son. The husband also got another illness that set him back. It was a difficult season for them. 

I met another man who lost his wife two years ago and still grieves over her. Last week they found his adult daughter dead in her apartment. Grief compounded on top of more grief. A good friend of mine told me about his daughter being in and out of the hospital recently with an illness she has battled for seven years. She is so sick that she cannot take care of her two young boys and had to ship them to grandparents while she tries to recover. Doctors have been unable to give her relief. It is easy to lose hope. 

In all of these trials and the many others you might be facing, we all need a little hope. We need that extra measure of strength to keep going and not to lose heart and give up. David felt that way, but he wrote a key phrase that has helped immensely over the years. He penned that he believed he would see the goodness of God in the land of the living. Sometimes from the middle of the storm it is hard to believe that. The dark clouds of doubt can overshadow the rays of hope. We might be tempted to believe things will never get better. 

Christians believe in the hope of Heaven. David believed he would see hope and God's good working while he still lived. I hope that is true for all of us. I trust that in the middle of the pain, the crisis, sorrow, the adversity, and confusion that God will make a way to lead us out of all that. The tough part is that we have to wait on God. Nobody taught me the theology of suffering and how God uses it in my early days as a follower of Jesus. There is purpose in the pain. We may not understand it ever this side of Heaven. We are forced to wait and trust. 

Many have walked long enough with the LORD that we do not doubt His faithfulness. If we wait long enough and persevere, we will see Him do His work. He will come through. In the midst of our suffering, there are valuable lessons we can learn. Sometimes the suffering is used to refine us and make us more like Jesus. Other times, the tests are meant to strengthen our faith and for God to get more glory. On some occasions, suffering is a consequence of our sin. There are many times when suffering is just part of living on this sin infested planet caused by other people. In all of it, we are called to wait on God and to trust Him. 

When I played football at Howard Payne, our coach gave us a motivational talk at the beginning of the season. I do not remember the details of that talk except the book from where he got his talking points. The title of the book was Tough Times Don't Last But Tough People Do. It is those tough people who suffer with a joyful heart, who persevere, and who keep believing God for better days who inspire me. Some of them I read about in history. Others I see before me in this congregation. They are the people who inspire hope. 

27 days came and went without my fingers pounding this keyboard for writing purposes. Hopefully today as that streak is broken, somebody somewhere will get a little dose of hope. With God's help, I hope the flow of posts will continue like a stream from God to offer water for thirsty souls in need of a little hope.