Letters to a Congregation
Every Thursday I write a pastoral letter to the west congregation of The Austin Stone Community Church. These letters are simple, pastoral musings on what it looks like to live a life that is attentive to God in the midst of a shared context.
The One About Delays, “Do Not Knows,” and Our Ongoing Need To Deify Things
As you encounter your own delays, and as you encounter your own “do not knows,” let us not be like the people of Israel who turned to the short term comfort of self-made gods. Embrace delay as an opportunity to wait on and to wait for the LORD. He always seems late, but He is always on time. Embrace limitation of knowledge as an opportunity to lean in to the wisdom of God and to trust Him that He knows what is best for you even when you can’t see it.
The One About Girl’s Basketball, Moses, and Doing What You Can With What You Have
What Moses had in his hand was a shepherd’s staff, which made sense as shepherding was his current vocation, but forgive me for stating the obvious, God didn’t ask Moses what he had in his hand because he couldn’t see it, or recognize it for what it was. God made every tree from which every staff had ever been hewn. He knew what Moses had in his hand, but He wanted Moses to stop and to look down at the little that He could bring which could pave the way for the miraculous power that God could bring.
Moses didn’t need all the things that he didn’t already possess in order to get started in fulfilling his purpose in God’s plans in the world. He just needed what he already had his hand, and God was going to do the rest.