When I was a kid, friends taught me how to figure out which way the wind\u00a0is blowing. You lick your finger, stick it in the air, and move it around until\u00a0you find the coldest spot \u2013 that\u2019s the direction the wind is coming from. As\u00a0adults we use the phrase, \u201cwhich way the wind blows\u201d metaphorically to\u00a0indicate if we or someone else knows what\u2019s going on. Today, if you lick\u00a0your finger and stick it out here, you\u2019ll feel a strong wind blowing, and it is\u00a0angry. An angry wind is blowing through the world; I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve noticed.<\/p>\n
There is a clear racial divide that seems to be continually growing, with violence begetting more violence in a terrible downward spiral. We are currently in the midst of the most contentious presidential contest in recent\u00a0history, and we seem to have lost the ability to disagree agreeably. Our\u00a0drug problems continue to worsen. Our economy is\u00a0sputtering along with few people truly satisfied with how it\u2019s going.<\/p>\n
The end result of all of this is that people are angry, anxious, worried, and\u00a0depressed, and those feelings of angst are finding their way into our\u00a0homes, our churches and many of our relationships.<\/p>\n
As Christians, we have an opportunity to respond to all of this in a dramatic way. In Philippians, the apostle Paul offers this advice: Do not\u00a0be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication\u00a0with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God (4:6).<\/p>\n
I know, the go to answer of \u201cJust pray!\u201d But are we praying enough? At\u00a0all? I wonder. So often we try and fix things with our own resources, for\u00a0getting that we have been invited to the throne room of God, and he wants\u00a0to hear what\u2019s on our hearts. Do you want to see our homes, our churches\u00a0and our communities change? Then begin with prayer. Lay these concerns before God. Ask him for peace in the midst of all this, because peace\u00a0allows us to respond appropriately. Anger, anxiety and worry do not help\u00a0us to think rationally or clearly, and there is plenty of those things in the\u00a0world already.<\/p>\n
May God use His Church at this time to bring peace and change to a world\u00a0desperate for both.<\/p>\n
Blessings,<\/p>\n
Pastor John<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6). Continue reading