Happy New Year

I've had a few people talk to me about yesterday's service and the message regarding making a list of New Year's resolutions.  It was such a great day with the presence of the Lord so real in worship, and the Lord really trying to stir us through reminding us of our importance to Him.

It has been exciting to hear from people who accepted the challenge of making a list of "resolutions" that really matter.  Reflecting on the idea of desiring things that will matter in 10, 100, or 1000 years really changes our perspective on what we desire to have or to have take place in 2011.

I had a paragraph in my notes yesterday that I intentionally decided to skip just before service.  It was a reflection on how much time I spend praying for my back not to hurt.  I was already afraid that some of my comments would be misinterpreted, so I left this out.  But in preparation, when I intially wrote the paragraph, I was convicted about how the pain in my back is not going to matter in eternity so maybe I should limit the amount of time I pray for it - devote more of that time to eternally significant issues.  I was concerned people would think that I was saying that you shouldn't pray over those types of things, but what I think was in my mind was that we easily get caught up in pressing/immediate/personally painful issues that will be resolved in this life at the expense of issues that will not be resolved during our time on Earth.

Looking forward, I am so excited about what I believe God is going to do through Faith Community in this coming year.  Pastor Sam and I had a conversation recently about all that God did last year, and we are both eager to see what comes next.  I said to him that I feel many times that we just need to get out of the way as much as possible and let God work.  It really is amazing to watch Him solve problems in a moment that I have wrestled with for weeks.  I've purposed to take my trust in God to a new level this year.  He has certainly shown Himself trustworthy.

Love to hear from you about ways that God has shown Himself trustworthy in your life, and about things you are excited to see come to pass at FCC.  Comment or email: jlowe@faithcommunitywv.org