On Sunday,
February 8, like many others, I watched the Super Bowl. I was rooting for the New England Patriots,
having been born in Massachusetts. I was
not, however, pulling against the Seattle Seahawks. The story of the Seahawk’s quarterback is a
good one. On Sunday, Sam Darnold was completing
his 8th year of playing in the National Football League. Darnold was drafted by the New York Jets as the
third overall draft pick in 2018, and very highly regarded. But his performance was less than stellar for
his first 2 teams. Then he went to a
third team where he just sat on the bench.
Before last year many considered Darnold to be a washout, a player who could
have been good, but failed to live up to the hype. However, the last two years changed that
story, and Sunday Darnold was interviewed as the winning quarterback of the
Super Bowl champions. He was asked about
the moment and he responded, “I think it’s all about my journey. The reason
that I’m here is because of my journey, because of the ups and downs, especially
the downs that I went through early on in my career. I learned so much
about myself, about football.” (The Athletic, February 9, 2026) We are supposed to learn from our
mistakes. It seems that Darnold did learn
from his struggles.
The next morning,
Monday, February 9, I was reading my devotional Bible. In my reading Moses had approached Pharoah,
at the command of God, to ask Pharoah to let the Israelites go into the
wilderness and worship. Pharoah
responded angrily by increasing the demands of slavery on the Israelite
people. They had to continue making
bricks for Pharoah’s construction projects, only now they had to gather straw
as well, and complete the same number of bricks. This caused suffering
for the Israelites and led to people blaming others for their difficulties.
The Israelites
blamed Moses for going to Pharoah as God had instructed. 21 . . . "The LORD look on you and judge,
because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and
have put a sword in their hand to kill us." In return, Moses accused God, 22 . . . "O Lord, why have
you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to
speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered
your people at all." (Exodus
5:21-23)
However, through
all of these trials, God was teaching a lesson. “ 1 But the LORD
said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for
with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive
them out of his land." (Exodus 6:1)
In contrast to the seeming helplessness of God’s people, and in contrast
to the tyranny of Pharoah, God is all-powerful.
In love and in power God takes care of His people. The previous suffering of the Israelites made
God’s deliverance even more of a lesson for them to learn.
Paul writes
something similar about the trials of life, and the power and mercy of
God. In 2 Corinthians 1:8-9, Paul
shares, “8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the
affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our
strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we
had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on
ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” The sufferings which Paul and his companions
faced seemed overwhelming. But God’s
mercy and deliverance taught a lesson of faith.
Do not trust yourself. TRUST GOD!
Peter describes
our sufferings as a refining, or a testing.
“6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may
have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your
faith-- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by
fire-- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when
Jesus Christ is revealed.” (1 Peter 1:6-7) Our trials and troubles can
refine us as God’s people, and strengthen our faith. We are powerless. But God is powerful, and He is loving.
It is easy to
complain about our troubles. The
Israelites complained in Egypt. Moses
complained to God. Last week my devotion
could be seen as complaining that our nation does not have the same values as
it did 60-70 years ago when I was a child.
But God uses our mistakes, our trials, to teach us about His power and
His love. God uses our suffering to
refine and strengthen our faith.
You would think
a pastor should know this lesson. But I / we have to learn some lessons over and over
again. Over 30 years ago a Lutheran
Alaskan man named Glen Dobbe was in a horrible accident which left him a paraplegic. Glen had been a halibut fishing guide and an
outdoorsman. Now he was in a wheelchair at
the Morning Star Care facility in Palmer.
Glen was discouraged. I visited
and prayed with him and brought Glen communion.
I had my boys come play chess with him.
However, this formerly active man was still down. Finally, I asked Glen, “How can God use this
time of trial to strengthen your faith?
Instead of thinking about what you cannot do, what can you do?” The next year Glen won first place at the Alaska
State Fair for a painting he had done.
He told me he could see God’s goodness, even in his trials.
What troubles or
trials are you facing right now? How
might God be refining you, and strengthening you, so that your faith grows and shines
through your difficulties, and you praise and witness to the Lord?
A Child of God, Praying
That I Might Be Refined and Grow in Faith Through the Trials of Life!
Pastor Rockey
P.S. I am
now in Gainesville, FL, serving as assistant to Pastor Chris Kollmann at First
Lutheran Church.
First
Lutheran Activities
·
STEPHEN MINISTRY - We will be restarting
Stephen Ministry soon at First Lutheran. Stephen Ministers are trained
Christian care-givers. A Stephen Minister is not a pastor, and not
a counselor. But they Christians who are trained to bring Jesus
and His love to another Christian person facing a difficult time.
Open Arms Director, Angie Burr, is a trained
leader. We are looking for one or two more people to go through training
to help Angie lead in this ministry.
We do have 7 people who have committed to train
and serve as Stephen Ministers, as Christian care-givers. We will begin training
on Thursday, February 12, at 6:00 p.m. for these folks so they can begin
serving as Stephen Ministers at First Lutheran.
THEREFORE, if you are interested in
serving as a Stephen Ministry Leader, or interested in serving as a Stephen
Minister, please contact Angie Burr or contact me (Pastor Rockey).
·
Pastor Kollman and I are teaching separate
Sunday Bible classes on Sundays at 8:45 a.m.
o
Pastor Kollmann is teaching a Lutheran Hour
Ministry Class on “How we Got the Bible” in the Besalski Fellowship
Hall.
o
I am teaching a study of the book of Ephesians
in the Schwiebert Library and Conference room.
·
Young People Activities at FLC
o
YOUTH ACTIVITIES - Our first youth
activity will be a bonfire at the Kollmann residence. (In April we plan to attend the Orange and
Blue Game. 😊 ) If
your children are going into 3rd grade, or older, please consider
attending this meeting and participating in these fun activities of
growth.
o
ACOLYTE TRAINING - We will also be
offering acolyte training again tentatively on Saturday, February 21, at 10:30
or 11:00. Now that we have families and children we want to give these
youth an opportunity to grow and serve our Lord. After the training we
will take a trip to the nearby McDonalds! 😊
Other
Activities of Faith:
·
I have again started my two year journey with my
Lord. On Tuesday, February 10, I read Exodus 7, about the
beginning of the plagues.
Feel free to join me again if you
wish. You may also contact me at 907-841-4066 if you have any
questions about these readings. Or send an e-mail question to jonrock53@mtaonline.net
I have received questions and comments about the readings. It is always
good to consider our Lord’s love and guidance. I will TRY to answer, but some
things only God knows!
P.P.S. Family
Fun and Fishing! Since Tuesday, January 27 we have experienced
morning temperatures at or below freezing. That is duration of cold is unusual
for Florida. And, when the water temperature drops, the bite from fishing slows
down.
·
I did golf.
Among other scores, I shot a 96 at Turkey Creek on Wednesday morning,
February 4, with 6 3 putts.
Then on Thursday I shot an 84 at Hawkstone with 6 1
putts. Go figure!
·
Fishing – The weather is TRYING to warm up. I tried to fish, without a whole bunch of
luck. But it was nice to be on the
water.
o
On Friday, February 6, in the wind and cool, I
went to the Withlacoochee River. Water
temperature was 56 degrees. No
bites. But here are some pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/m8YJWsFbYA2PCGPi9
o
On Saturday, February 7, the air temperature
actually rose to 70 degrees. But morning
temperatures were near freezing. When I
fished the Suwannee River, the water was low and the water temperature was 60
or 61 degrees, depending on where I looked. No bites.
But I saw some gators. Here are
some pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/J4GeyPSF1g77vETx7
o
On Sunday afternoon I fished after church. I went to George’s Lake. I saw some other guys who asked me how I
did. They had put in at 6:00 a.m. and
the air temperature was 28 degrees. They
said they had ice on their lines. I put
in around 2:00 with the air temperature at 65, later in the 70’s. The water temperature was 62 degrees. I did catch one nice bass. Here are some pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/KGyQvD5DwjKN1d9z7
*******
ABOUT THIS
DEVOTION - I retired at the end of August 2019 from serving as full-time
senior pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Palmer, AK. I was writing a
weekly devotion previously entitled, "Thoughts from the
Pastor." When I retired many asked me to continue writing these
devotions. So I have continued writing. However, with life's
changes I now call this weekly devotion "Journeys Through Life as a Child
of God." Since I am no longer senior pastor at St. John, I felt it
right to only send this message to those who asked to receive it.
(However, I am currently as Assistant to the Pastor for First Lutheran Church
in Gainesville, FL.)
So,
if you stopped receiving these devotions and wondered why, now you
understand. And, if you are now receiving these devotions and do not wish
to receive them, please let me know, and I’ll gladly remove your name from my
distribution list. My e-mail address is jonrock53@mtaonline.net.
My
prayer is that these devotions help each of you in your daily walk with our
Lord, Jesus.
*******
Jonathan Rockey
Child of God
Husband, Father,
Son, Grandfather
Assistant to the
Pastor , First Lutheran Church, Gainesville, FL
Pastor Emeritus,
St. John Lutheran Church, Palmer, AK
“How great is the love the
Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that
is what we are!” (1 John 3:1 a)
