Scripture

Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down.

~Proverbs 12:25, LSB

Quote

Anxiety will not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but it will empty today of its strength.

~Charles Spurgeon

St Jude’s has some heart rendering commercials; in one such commercial, a parent says…“The worse news in the world is not that you have cancer, it is that your child has cancer.” Can you imagine the anxiety of a mom or dad who has a child in St. Judes. What about the anxiety of awaiting test results? How can any human not be anxious in these situations? What about our friends who are grieving the absence of a soul mate? Jesus told us, “In the world you have tribulation {distress}, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” As a pastor, I am telling you, “this world is filled with distress and hurting people.” People are hurting. Yeah, I know some are on cruises, some are at ball games, some are at the beach or the lake but I see the ones who are hurting. People at the beach don’t need me; the hurting do. The true shepherd is drawn to the hurting among the flock and he deals with one hurt after the other. I have no power. I can not heal. The only thing I can do is be an ambassador for Christ. In other words, I can be present. I can hug them in Jesus name. I can listen to their cry for help and I can pray with them and for them, but I cannot heal or give them peace. I do know someone who can give them peace but this peace requires total surrender. The surrender of the will is not an easy thing, sometimes it involves an intense struggle.

We are all going to die physically, it is just a matter of when. The big problem is not death; the greater problem is living in anticipation of death. Over the years I have come to believe that PEACE is the greatest blessing. Friend, if you have peace, you can weather any storm and if you don’t, life becomes one big tempest. Nothing can be appreciated or enjoyed without PEACE. I remember the day that June and I carried her father to the doctor in Decatur. He had been in decline and we knew something was wrong. That day, the doctor told us the bad news, Papa, as we called him, had ALS. The ride home was 20 plus miles and no one said a word. I don’t think I will ever forget that day. Papa lived three more years and was promoted at the age of 63 which is not old. The last two years he spent in bed.  Papa never complained, not even once; at least not to me. He never said, “Why me?” He was the most contented man I’ve ever known and I believe that was a result of the peace he had in his heart. I never saw one ounce of fear, bitterness, anger or discontent in him. He did get angry with June’s mother a couple of times but I would label that righteous indignation.

Folks, I am not hankering for more money, the thing I need most, money cannot buy. You can have this whole world, just give me Jesus {Peace}. Pray for me that I would be a better minister of peace to those who are struggling.

Extra

PTL the weather folks missed it. The storm that went through Tennessee cooled things down a bit. We had cloud cover all evening plus an hour of thunder and some lightening but no rain. I think that got some North of us and perhaps to the west but we didn’t get a drop. We’ve had .2 in the past month. Our corn is not going to make it unless we get some rain this week. Oh well, not a big deal. These people who are battling cancer are not worried about the rain. I hope you have a Good Friday. Our bunch is headed for New Orleans. The whole herd in going on a cruise except the two preachers. We have better things to do!

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading the blog.