In the ordinary

When we are in the midst of a difficult time it is often hard to see and remember that God is in control. It is hard to see the beauty and hope when we feel we are rambling in the dark - but you are not alone.  God is with you.

At Amberlea we are working through the book of Ruth. It is a story of heartbreak, redemption and hope.  There are no big grand miracles of God, but throughout the pages you see God working in the ordinary. It is a great reminder that God is with us, in all of it — in the everyday.

Ruth is the daughter-in-law of Naomi, both women bound by grief, shared a history of loss. After the death of her husband and both her sons, Naomi decides to return to her homeland of Bethlehem.

Naomi, pleaded with her daughter-in-laws, Ruth and Orpah  to seek a new life among their people, the Moabites, where they would be welcomed and accepted but would not worship God. Orpah remained but Ruth embraced her mother-in-law. "'Where you go, I will go,” Ruth said, “Your people will be my people, your God my God. Death alone shall part us.’”

Imagine leaving the comfort of the familiar—the land of your birth, your mother, and the deity you've always known—to embrace your mother-in-law, her homeland, and her faith. It's the journey from the known to the unknown, from the familiar to the foreign. Ruth chose to leave behind the god of her upbringing to embrace the God of Judah, the God we serve today.

Each one of us will face pivotal moments that demand commitment beyond the ordinary. The question is: What principles will guide your decisions? Ruth's journey encourages us to boldly declare our loyalties, not just in words but in the deliberate actions that shape our lives and glorify God.

For you, what would it look like to embrace a life marked by a steadfast commitment to God’s leading?

We all will leave a legacy for those who walk behind us. Will yours, like Ruth, be a testament of loyalty to God?

Weakness into strength

As some of you may already know, I had the honour of being the speaker at the Vancouver Island Women’s Retreat last week. What you might not be aware of is the tumultuous journey leading up to the event. From navigating emotionally taxing weeks to recovering from a nasty bout of food poisoning, to dealing with delayed flights and missed connections, it seemed like every that could go wrong, did. Leaving Toronto, I felt drained, ill-prepared, and completely inadequate for the task ahead. Sitting in the airport, weary and disheartened, I couldn't help but wonder, "How would God use this mess?"

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

My grace is sufficient for you.  This verse is written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth. He is relating a season in his life where he was given a thorn in his flesh - something that persistently hurt him — and Paul tells us that he begged God multiple times to take it away but God remained silent. It wasn’t until the third time when Paul got a response. And the response he got from God would probably cause a lot of us to struggle because God does not remove it, instead God says, my “grace is sufficient for you”.

The definition of grace is undeserved favour. And when I think about GRACE it’s often in the context of the gift of salvation that allows us to have the Holy Spirit with us at all times.  So, when I hear this verse, what I hear Paul saying — what I hear God saying — is that ‘I am enough for you’.

In other words My power, at work with you is enough to overcome every situation you face because what you view as a weakness, I view as a window through which My glory can shine through.

As I stepped up to speak on Friday night (the first of four talks) God was faithful and I was humbled at how God could use even me, in my rather depleted state.  The weekend was brilliant and all glory goes to God who, did indeed, shine through!  I was given strength when I didn’t have any and it was good.

So today, be reminded that God is enough for you. When you are weak, God is strong and God wants to do infinitely more through you than you can ask or imagine.

So bring to God your weaknesses today, surrender them and lay them for God. Allow God to flip the script and take what you view as a weakness and turn it into a strength, for God’s glory and your good.

The king of king is near

You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me. (John 12:8)

To understand this verse you have to go back to verses 1-7 where Jesus is at a party thrown in his honour.  He is reclining at the table with his disciples and his friends - namely Lazarus, who he has just been raised from the dead.  Mary, Lazarus’ sister, sees her now alive brother sitting with the man who raised him from the dead and she is moved by gratitude. As an act of worship she goes and gets an expensive perfume and she anoints Jesus.

But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, the one who later betrays Jesus  says, “What a waste! This perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor.” Of course, we are told that Judas didn’t really care about the poor because he was a thief and wanted only for himself.

Here is how Jesus responded. Jesus, knowing that he is heading for his own death, his own crucifixion, says, “you will always have the poor among you, you will always have time for that but I am here…now. Judas, you are missing the point.”

So the question comes to us…Jesus is here now, in all of his mercy and all of his compassion and all of his power and glory and his holiness… how will we respond?

Will we miss the point, like Judas?  Will we be clouded by our own greed and our desire to get more for ourselves or will we like Mary bring an extravagant, un-calculated, generous, humble offering of worship.

The king of kings is close today, how will you respond?

Lord make us tender, make us sensitive to your presence.