Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens;
….your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. Psalm 36:5 NLT

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I have sat here for 30 minutes and I am no further ahead than when I began. I’ve read through portions of John and, at least for tonight, nothing. I have looked through a couple of my books regarding hymns and again…nothing. In desperation, I looked back to this day 5 years ago when I was in the middle of Titus. As I backtracked to the beginning of my writing of that particular epistle of Paul it took me to my writings for January 11th, 2016. I wrote concerning Titus 1:1-4…

I am still struggling, and time is ticking away. I suppose I could compare myself to the island of Crete where Titus was sent to minister. The Good News had touched many lives but there was much to be done – to take numerous individuals all going different directions in life and attempting to bring them together as one body of believers would be the challenge.

Established mindsets are difficult to overcome. Even some who seemed solid in their determination to follow Christ would have issues with things that had long ago been laid to rest. As are we, the church is a living breathing organism. And as in any and every setting, the church continues to grow and decline, and mature and fall back. It is an ongoing endeavor both for the church and the individual to maintain their relationship with You, Lord, through all the many ups and downs. We kid ourselves if we think it doesn’t happen to us or that it only happens to us. All of us must continue to strive to keep our relationship with You alive and well. Jesus, You are there for us, You don’t give up on us, You forgive us when we fall but We are the ones who must decide to move forward – to not give up, but to advance.

Five years later that is still my plea. It has been a relatively short period of time, but our world has changed so much. I, too, have changed. No matter your take on COVID-19 we have all been impacted.

When I look back over the last year, I realized that our last date for “normal” worship was March 8th, 2020. Initially, I made attempts to contact people of my congregations but as time has gone on it has overwhelmed me. I have interacted with some, but my time seems to be taken with preparation for virtual services, writing, and work, as well as family responsibilities. I realize that I really need to reach out and interact with the people of my churches and they probably pray that I would.

Have you ever been in a position where you needed to tackle a big task but were stymied by the sheer volume of it all? You’ve held back not knowing where or how to start, so those roadblocks totally immobilize you. It is a difficult place to be.

Lord Jesus, my prayer from 5 years ago is appropriate in this time and place, too.

Lord, help me to keep in line with You – to not throw in the towel but to keep on, keeping on!

May it be so. Amen.

Mar 1st, 2021, Mon, 7:25 pm