|
Hello San Marco Church family, While Steve is settling in and focusing his efforts on his role as pastor, I am helping out by contributing this week’s blog. I don’t have his scriptural knowledge, years of theological study or spiritual counseling experience. Mostly, I just have my perspective as an often disobedient child of God trying to discern His will for my life and follow it. This is my daily challenge. Now Steve has invited our church family to share your vision for San Marco church. Something I took from Steve’s sermon last week -- I mean, besides his overuse of the word “bombastic” – is that discerning God’s will for our lives is especially challenging when the message and the messenger are not appealing or pleasant. Under normal conditions, I already struggle trying to stay focused. Recently, I wondered if God was trying to get my attention — maybe even testing me. I spent most of 2023 dealing with a cancer diagnosis. Multiple times throughout that process of undergoing surgery, months of chemotherapy and weeks of radiation, I had many questions for God about why this was happening to me and just what I was supposed to do. At a time when I was angry at God and more than skeptical of His plan, the encouraging, supportive advice I received from my church family was to spend MORE time with God and seek his direction. I was not receptive. I spent a lot of time making excuses. It’s takes a lot of time and effort to experience chemo side effects, after all. But finally, I conceded that I could at least try a daily devotional. I got a printed copy of the Upper Room, which is also available online, www.upperroom.org and I tried to devote at least 15 minutes a day reading the brief stories and accompanying scriptures. I was surprised at how relatable and relevant the stories are, even when they were written by people whose faith journey seem vastly different from mine. And while topics ranged from reflections on nature to the prescient comments of preschoolers, they prompted me to consider so many things in a new way. It often feels like those varied and seemingly unrelated stories are God’s answers to my questions, and the practice has served as a daily reminder to have faith and trust God’s will in all things. Now I believe that, for me, the message was its time for a change, and cancer was the messenger. I’m still seeking to conclusively determine what I am supposed to do amid that change. But through the daily devotional I have gotten better at focusing my attention on God. Colleen Hart
|
