It has been a while since Crosslink has last given an update. In the first part of 2021, we have seen change, stressors from political change, concerns over physical health, mental health, vaccines, how to gather with family, how to gather as the church, and insert many of the other concerns that cause anxiety for many of us each day. All this reminds me of the sovereignty of God.
Can we rest in His peace, knowing that all this is under His control? Often, we can say this, but the real question is, do we truly believe what we are saying or hearing? The picture is one I took a few months while out on my morning run. It is a great time to spend with God and unscramble my thoughts. As I was running in the park at sunrise, I thought it was a gorgeous sunrise. As I looked closer and studied it in awe, I kept being drawn to the plane exhaust and not the beauty of the sunrise. God did not need the help of the planes to make something beautiful.
I kept going back to the question that many Christians ask in various forms, but all include that concept of God you should add this or do that. Another question is, God did you ever think of this? We try to impart our imperfect human wisdom and guidance to the One who is truly in control. Paul teaches us about this in 1 Corinthians 2:9-16:
“As it is written, ’What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him, — these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things but is himself to be judged by no one. ‘For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ”
As we move forward in the ministry of Crosslink and our personal walk, it is critical to join the Lord in the work He is doing without trying to impose the desires of the flesh. Once again, it is easy to say yet it takes a lifetime of practice and serving the Lord to rest in His plan and not ours.