Three Things

This morning I was not looking forward to church.  It isn't that I don't like our church or that I don't want to hear God's word.  It's just all the getting there.  And the managing of people.  And, today, the taking food and eating there.  But it was worth it.  So worth it.  Came back far richer than I went in.  Here are three things that jumped out at me, that I needed to hear today.

• The prayer of a grandfather.  One of the newest little members of our congregation was baptised this morning.  Her grandfather, an elder in another church from another town, led the congregation in prayer for her and her parents after the administration of the sacrament.  He prayed that her parents "would have the strength to call on you in prayer."  Isn't that just so true?  We even need to pray for the strength to pray!
• The prayer of an elder.  Each Sunday, one of our elders leads the congregation in prayer.  This morning, the Elder who prayed thanked God "for leaving us in the world".  The longing for eternity?  I get that.  The being thankful for being left here to do the good work God has for us?  I've been forgetting that recently.  But it's true.  And it's worth dwelling on.
• The encouragement of a pastor and session.  Our dear pastor preached to us from 2 Timothy 1:1-7 which ended with these words " ... for God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control."  He publically encouraged all of us.  And then, during the church lunch, he came over and repeated those same words quietly, near to the ear of my oldest, my 10-year old son, just before it was time for him to go and meet with the elders to give a testimony of his faith in order to join the church.  Each one of the elders in that room (including my father) showered my son with tender love and encouragement, speaking to him as a fellow-heir.  As Pauls to a Timothy.

I am so glad that God's faithfulness and goodness are unchangeable, objective realities completely independant of my feelings about them.  But I am also thankful that some days he also reaches through the fog, in mercy, and speaks even to and through my feelings.