Dear Fellow Children of God,
Have you ever had computer problems? How does you FEEL about dealing with problems
your computer has? Do you feel frustrated? Confused?
Angry? Discouraged?
Last week my primary e-mail account was suspended. To make matters worse, this was the second
time in less than a month that this suspension has happened. Now, I’ve heard of and experienced computer viruses
and computer worms. I’ve seen problems with the hardware of my computers. I’ve struggled to work with a web site. But, I’ve never before heard of an e-mail
address being suspended, have you?
Both times in the last month that I dealt with this issue
I was required to go through certain steps to reactivate my e-mail. I had to scan my computers for viruses; my work
desktop, my home desktop, and my laptop computers. This scanning took quite a while because I
have a lot of files, and because when I leave the office or home the computer
went to sleep and stopped scanning. I have
also had to change the password to my account twice now.
Also, as I worked on this problem with my provider I was
not receiving e-mail for at least 3 days.
Maybe you sent me a message that did not get through. And, while I use computers, I don’t
necessarily know how they work. So, as
you can imagine, for someone who uses e-mail as a regular tool of communication,
this caused challenges for work, and, yes, some frustration and maybe even
anger that this tool had stopped working.
That is a LONG explanation of the cause of a recent
frustration, but I think you have probably experienced similar frustrations, if
not with your computer. So, how do God’s
children deal with these frustrations? Frustration
and anger are part of life. Sometimes we
get upset that our plans did not go as we hoped. Sometimes it seems that life is unfair. Sometimes we may bring some of these
frustrations on ourselves. But, when we
are frustrated, when we are angry, what do we do? Where do we go?
I served as volunteer chaplain at the hospital last
week. As I visited patients, many faced
a different kind of frustration, that of being ill and sometimes not even
knowing the cause of the illness. As I
visited I shared one of my favorite bible verses. 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on him because
he cares for you.”
When we have anxiety or frustration, frustration or discouragement,
anger or confusion, God says to cast those feelings at Him. He basically says, “Throw it at me; lay it on
Me.” And, this is not just some plan to
ignore our problems and hope they go away.
We can lean on the Lord because He loves us and has taken care of the
problems. All the frustrations and anger
of this world can trace their origin to our rebellion and sin against God and
others. God didn’t just say He cared, He
sent His son into this world of trouble.
Jesus did the big job of living a righteous life for us. Jesus loved us enough to suffer for us, and
to sacrifice His very life for us. Jesus
rose and won victory over our sin and the source of our troubles. So, when God says to “Cast all your anxiety on him, we can do it, because He really does care and
because He not only can help, He has already taken care of our troubles in the
long run.
So, I worked with the
host of my e-mail address. They were
afraid my computer had a virus and was sending this virus out in messages I
didn’t even know I was sending. I
understand this fear. I have received
those messages myself, even from friends, even today. (Isn’t technology wonderful?) However, even
though my computers are now supposedly free from all viruses, it turns out it
wasn’t even my computer that was the culprit.
Someone else’s computer was reacting to my messages in such a way that
the computer of my e-mail host thought I was sending spam, when it seems I was
not. Imagine, all that frustration because
of the response of computers, not people? But, the second time this happened was a
little less frustrating. I knew what to
do.
When we see God in His
love help us with our troubles and problems, we can face life without
anxiety. We know God doesn’t just say He
cares about us, but in love for us God has really overcome the source of all
problems. “Cast all your anxiety on him because
he cares for you.”
A Child of God, Hopefully learning Christian maturity,
Pastor Jonathan
****
ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ - I am
sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and
friends whose e-mails I have. (I am always adding new names of friends
and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first
time.) However, if you don’t want to receive this e-mail, please let me
know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message. . . Or, if
you know someone who would like to receive one of these e-mails, please send me
their e-mail address.
******
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