Dear
Fellow Children of God,
I
have been frustrated recently with the weather.
It’s not so much the Florida heat. Nor even the rain. But the lightning has kept me from fishing
and golfing.
I
have been trying to honor the many requests I’ve had to take people
fishing. So, on Sunday, July 7, I took
my nephew, Jayden Pruim, fishing in a favorite lake on Sunday afternoon after
worship. We were doing really well. He caught a nice bass on his second cast. I had a number of bites and caught a fish
myself. The weather report had predicted
a small chance of rain, followed by a nice evening. However, the clouds built as we fished. The sky grew darker, and we started to hear
thunder as the clouds approached us. I
told Jayden we should get off the water for safety and maybe the storm would
pass. Instead, we saw lightning as we reached
shore and the storm simply settled in place and grew larger. Then, as we pulled the boat out, the thunderstorms
were now supposed to last for 2 ½ hours more, almost to dark. Unfortunately, even though the fish were
biting, we were on the water less than an hour.
Frustrating!
I
tried again the following Sunday.
Originally the forecast had predicted rain for the afternoon of July
14. But, as I drove home my weather app now
predicted clouds, but no rain. I stopped
for lunch and ran into Chuck Brabham and family. Way back last fall Chuck and I had talked
about fishing together. I told Chuck,
“I’m going fishing this afternoon, if you want to come with me.” Well, on the way the forecast changed, again!
Nevertheless, we got onto the lake and the
fish started to bite right away. I
caught a couple of fish, and Chuck missed some.
But the sky quickly grew threatening.
We heard some rumbles. We took
out the rain gear. Unfortunately, we soon
saw a flash of light, followed by a loud crash. We packed up quickly and got
off the lake. When we docked, we saw a
bolt of lightning. Earlier, as we had launched
the boat, the water was glassy as I have seen it. The wind picked up and the waves lapped
against the shore. We had been out of
the water less than an hour, even though the fish were biting. Frustrating!!
I
had better hopes for Monday, July 15. I
had a regular noon tee time for golf with friends. Yes, storms were forecast to start after 4:00
p.m., but we figured we would be finished by then. However, around the second hole, dark clouds
started to build. On the third hole I
told the guys, “I can golf in the rain, but if I see lightning I’m gone.” I am not a great golfer, but on Monday I was playing
well. I had two pars and two bogeys
through the first 4 holes. I missed a
short putt for a par on hole 5, but was still 2 strokes under bogey golf. That’s good for me. Yet, the rumbles grew more frequent. Then,
standing on the tee for the parr 5 number 6 hole, a bolt of lightning flashed
at the end of the fairway. We quickly
drove our carts back to the parking lot.
Just as soon as I had put my gear in my car, returned the golf cart, and
shut my door, the heavens opened up. It
was only a little after 1:00, not 4:00 p.m.
Nevertheless, the rain lasted most of the afternoon, and with the
lightning, we were blessed with a couple of inches of rain. I thought I would get my golf game in on
Monday, but lightning again spoiled my plans.
It was extremely frustrating!!!
Just
before we saw the lightning on the golf course, my friend Greg Winkler sort of
joked, “Come on, Rock! You’ve got an in
with the Big Guy. Can’t you do something
about the weather?” (Truthfully, I
related these 3 long stories about lightning in order to get to Greg’s
words.) I’ve had people ask me that kind
of question before. It is worth
considering how a child of God answers such questions.
In
all honesty, I do pray each day, often many times. But, in my prayers I am not telling
the Lord what to do. I ask for
His wisdom and grace and love, and then I wait on His answer. I am not God.
HE is. I’m not in charge. The Lord God is Ruler of all!
When
I pray I trust that God hears all my prayers, and that He always answers. I also trust that my Lord is wiser than I am. I trust He loves me. Among many other words of Scripture, I
believe my Lord’s words in Romans. “31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for
us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but
gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all
things?” (Romans 8:31-32) God
has lovingly taken care of my eternity at the cost of Jesus’ life. THAT is why I trust Him. That is why I trust
HIM to answer my prayers. I trust my
Lord’s wisdom and love, to care for me in this life, as well as eternally.
In truth, I did pray Monday on the golf course. I prayed silently that the Lord would keep us
safe. And He answered that prayer.
Thankfully, God is Lord. Thankfully,
HE is in charge. He is wiser and more
powerful than I am. He gave His Son in
love. He answers prayers in grace and
wisdom.
“Come
on, Rock! You’ve got an in with the Big
Guy. Can’t you do something about the
weather?” I am trusting My Lord’s
wisdom, and power, and love.
A
Child of God, Thankful That the God of Wisdom and Love Is In Charge, AND Loves Us!
P.P.S. NEWS AND MINISTRY OPPORTUNITIES AT
First Lutheran Church – Gainesville!
CALL
COMMITTEE NEWS – The
First Lutheran Call Committee has worked through a lot of names submitted by
the District and by First Lutheran members.
After interviews and prayerful deliberation, the call committee is bringing
Pastor Jay Winters from University Lutheran Church in Tallahassee, FL, to First
Lutheran Gainesville for a visit with congregational leaders the week of July
21. Because the Call Committee and
Church Council expect Pastor Winters’ visit to be a good one, they have asked
for and scheduled a Voters’ meeting after worship on Sunday, July 28 to
possibly consider calling Pastor Winters to First Lutheran. PLEASE CONTINUE TO KEEP THIS PROCESS IN YOUR
PRAYERS.
VBS
TAKES PLACE AT FIRST LUTHERAN JULY 22-26! Please and invite children, grandchildren,
neighbors, and friends!
PLEASE REGISTER
ONLINE FOR VBS!!!!!
Here is a link to
the registration form.
https://flcgainesville.org/2024-vacation-bible-school/
FIRST
LUTHERAN HAS BEGUN A ROOF FUND, and an AIR CONDITIONER FUND. In an announcement
at the May 19 Voters’ Meeting we learned that to put a new roof on the
sanctuary, the office building, the fellowship hall, the preschool, and the
student housing will cost about $200,000.00
The roofs are still in good shape.
But we have had leaks, and it has been about 20 years since the roof was
last replaced. First Lutheran leaders
want to act before the roofs fail.
In addition, we learned at the June
Mission and Ministry Council meeting that our Air Conditioners are old and will
need replacing.
Please consider how God may lead you toward
these needs in the future.
WE
CONTINUE TO STUDY THE BOOK OF ACTS on Sunday mornings at 8:45 a.m. in the
Besalski Fellowship Hall. On Sunday,
July 21, we will make it into Acts 19. Come
and join us in studying about the history of the early Christian Church!
WE
CONTINUE TO READ THROUGH THE SCRIPTURE IN 2024 and 2025 using the Today’s
Light Devotional Bible. On Tuesday, July
16, we finished reading 2 Samuel. We began
reading 1 Kings on Wednesday, July 17.
Feel free to contact Pastor Rockey at
907-841-4066 if you have any questions about these readings. Or send an e-mail question to jonrock53@mtaonline.net
P.P.S.
PICTURES – AND OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
VISIT WITH MY NEIGHBORS – On Monday, July 15 I cooked for some of my neighbors. Here is a picture of Doris Beazell, Linda
Allen, and Doris’ sister Paula Forsyth as we ate bass and the “fixins.” After
all, I did have fresh bass from Sunday afternoon! https://photos.app.goo.gl/yVXLyP7gNrR4Et199
I WENT FISHING THREE TIMES THIS LAST
WEEK.
· On Friday, June
12, after a morning of golf, I enjoyed an afternoon and evening of fishing on
Rodman Reservoir. It was hot and the
fish were not biting well, but I saw a beautiful sunset, and LOTS of
gators. Here are a few pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/86AdQPHFTVZWCVR66
· On Saturday, July 13,
I went fishing early at Little Orange Lake.
It was hotter on Saturday than on Friday night. Again, in the heat, the fish were sluggish. But it is always good to be on the
water. Here are pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/8pY7cX8T3iJ2k4fv8
· On Sunday, July 14,
Chuck Brabham and I went fishing after worship services. As you heard above, we encountered a
thunderstorm. But we did get out and the
fish were biting. Here are some
pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/J63o62UvSCsU6jJ49
*******
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 Vacancy 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
Vacancy
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)
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