pastorrudytlc

They say, “Real trust develops in the dark.” And if that is true then the faith quotient of many should be rising to an all-time high because they live more like a mole than a marigold. Do you feel like it has been way too long since you have honestly believed and expected God to shower the light in on you and bring personal blessings your way? If you do you are not alone!  Too many sadly operate and navigate their way through days as though God labeled them peasants and relegated their residence to that no higher than the basement.

And when life has been on track- anything that is good that happens doesn’t last!  But when they get it wrong- the hammer comes banging down on hearts and souls without rhyme or reason.  And most can honestly admit that they do more wrong than right!  They know that being faithful in keeping regular company with God and pursuing him first like we all know we should is so much easier said than done! Does your life ever seem way too orchestrated and not very raw and real and authentic and genuine?  If you are there or have been before- it results in an experience that amounts to a journey that has all the anticipation of circling an airport but never receives the excitement of actually landing!

It is a sobering moment to get to a season in your life and then start to wonder if this is the best that it is ever going to be on this earth. It can get depressing to think that there is nothing more to look forward to because face it- life can be basically hard and just plain stink lots of the time. Days like these lead to needing more than cliché laden spiritual pep talks! You need passion! You want substance! You cry for understanding! You don’t need a going through the motions church service that lends to be more sitcom than soothing.  When a soul cries out for nourishment and has a burning desire to taste life and not just have to fight longing and hunger and thirsting and pain and disappointment without solution- we need real compassion and mercy and grace!  Is there anything worse than knowing that even those who hate you are happier than you and are receiving what you know eludes you?  As a Pastor I know if individuals could and would be honest- they might be articulating thoughts like: “Why when I play by God’s rules do I get screwed in the process?”  I resonate with the need to deal with what is actually going on in hearts and not just placating our nice and neat little facades that we present so often and easily in public!

I know God is real and I know my times are in his hands and I want them to be right there!  I don’t want to go my own way and get going on a path that strays and veers away from his sovereign love and providence.  But if there are times that I feel like I am busted and rusted and thoroughly disgusted! I am angry and humbled and I’ve erred and fumbled! But I don’t want my life to end like this with this defeat. I want to live again and fly again and rise again and see again and sing again and taste again and thrive and survive and drive and be fully alive!  If that is stirring within me, I know others have got to be sensing similar stuff!  I know the status quo is not enough to make it go!  We’ve got to get back to where we once belonged!  Return to when we once believed!
Have faith that we will still become! 

As a matter of fact, we have just begun a series at The Lighthouse Church simply entitled RETURN!  I have come to accept that the answer to all of these issues is to not try to just make your life work.  We need more than pragmatism!  We need an internal and eternal soul jam revival!  We need to know how to dwell as close to the Lord as we can this side of heaven where nothing is for sure and there are no real guarantees that we can be exempt from evil- both our own and the consequences of the behavior of others!  If you just try to settle, you will miss out by compromising and corrupting what God has deemed best for each and every one of us! 

O God, help us to know the way to enter fully into this mystery of life that if we are open to you-we will never have to taste it without your ever present love on the menu.  It is so much more than making this life live-able!  It knows life within us even when there is nothing but the stench of death all around us!  We know we are spoiled.  We know we demand when we should be asking!  We know we don’t say “Thank You” near enough and our attitude is definitely lacking gratitude!  But you provide us holy-do overs where we get to start again and we worry so much what others think when you have already given us an open invitation to come on home and return to the one who knows us best and loves us anyway!  I pray that we will entrust our hearts and souls fully to your hands!  It isn’t about us just being good to get more good!  It is about us being with you God!  I want me to be all about you!  In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit- Amen!