Under an Endless Sky

I love going to church....especially lately.
Our service is divided in half with a coffee time in between so we keep the boys with us for the first half and then Rory goes to Sunday School and Paxton goes to the nursery for the second half. And Paxton stays in the nursery without being upset, unlike Rory at that age. So I've been able to sit through entire messages and I'm lovin' it!

Here's some of what I've been pondering from our last message. Pastor John said,

"God's will for us is exactly what we would choose if we knew all the facts."

I think we do not trust God's goodness. We know in our heads that He is good but in our hearts....we wonder. What would it be like to really abandon ourselves to Him; giving up complete control of our lives? Most of us try to hang on to the control of our lives and it is a constant struggle because we're not really willing to give it up. But therein is the lie. Where do we get the idea we're in control of anything? So much of life is out of our hands regardless of what we like to think. So really faith is stepping out and trusting in the goodness of God. And here's the interesting part: once we step out on the limb of faith, we encounter a God who loves us so much and desires a relationship with us. And as that relationship grows and we begin to see the goodness of God, we learn to trust and to rest in His goodness. And our lives become a process of transformation. The goal is clear - we are to become like Him; completely impossible without His help. The key to that transformation is repentance. Repentance is not about feeling bad or guilty as much as it's about changing. As Pastor John said: When we repent, we change what we think about God, about our sin and about ourselves. It's a letting go of our own desires and holding on to what God has for us. And what He offers is so far beyond what anything else in this world has to offer; no comparison. I know what choice I've made. I have the freedom to repent. That's quite the freedom to be excited about. Not exactly one of the freedoms we generally consider being invaluable like freedom of speech, freedom to choose, etc. But freedom to repent means that no matter how far off track I go, God is constantly working in me to bring good from what is not.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him.."
Rom 8:28