From the Pastor's Desk

Longsuffering isn't a word that I like to be part of my story. What does longsuffering mean, you may ask. Longsuffering means to endure injury, trouble, or provocation long and patiently. It simply means having or showing patience despite troubles.

One of a favorite scripture for many is Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "they are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." However, if we back up to verse 10, these words precede this encouraging scripture: This is what the Lord says: "You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then, I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again." The prophet Jeremiah told the children of Israel that they would be held in captivity for seventy years by Babylon. Seventy years is a long time. I'm sure to them it felt as it would to us, unfair, impossibly long, and horribly hard.

Joshua let the Israelites know that as they waited for the fulfillment of the promise, that they needed to intentionally and wholeheartedly seek the Lord. Those same instructions ring true for us. The only way that you and I can see Him in our circumstances and see His perspective, is to seek Him, His ways, and His word. The good plans and promises for hope and a future are ours.

God's perspective is drastically different from ours. His perspective allows Him to see all things - the past, the present, and the future - from the day we are conceived until the day we breathe our last breath.

Just as the children of Israel, God's promises for you and for me are in process. Even if you can't see any evidence of good yet, remember that "not yet" doesn't mean "not ever."

-Pastor Jennifer