Romans 15:13

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

You have probably had someone at some time in your life place their hand on your shoulder, look you in the eye, and with all the sincerity they could muster encourage you to— “bloom where you are planted.” It may have come from the lips of a parent or a well-meaning friend or even a pastor.  I know I’ve shared that proverbial wisdom with more than one person stuck in a desert experience!  When quoted, the intent is to encourage people to make the best of one’s situation, no matter how hopeless it may seem.  Good advice for sure; but for those of us who follow Christ, we know that even good advice is powerless if it’s not rooted in the promises of God.  

While you won’t find those exact words in a search of your concordance, I believe you will find that principle scattered across the pages of Scripture.  For example, speaking through Jeremiah, God encouraged the exiles of Judah who were quarantined in Babylon with these words: 

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8) 

The point of God’s word through the prophet was to encourage the Jewish people to be resilient in their present difficult situation.  That is, He was reminding them, and us, that things do not always go as we planned, but that we should make the most of our situation. 

What are we to do then?  “Bloom where you are planted.”  That is, recognize that while there are many things we can’t control (the lines at the stores, the “shelter in place” restrictions, loss of a job, etc.), we can control how we respond.  Specifically, we can and should choose to use this compulsory downtime to grow and strengthen our relationship with God and people, to deepen our knowledge and understanding of His Word, and to sharpen our spiritual disciplines like prayer and intercession. 

Let us choose then to use this time to drive our spiritual roots deep, that we might tap into the refreshing waters of His faithfulness, so as to bring forth fruit for our King! 

-- Paul Lester

COVID-19 Crisis Prayer - Pastor Mike

Today's Prayer

Psalm 67

Today’s Subject: Critical Care Ministries

A Critical Care Ministry are those ministries which exist to address significant challenges in life including loss of life, divorce, addictions, and the like which have been significantly disrupted or even cancelled due to the current crisis.

God’s Way: Pray for all those who can be tempted to believe their troubles are now multiplied by the current crisis and the inability to meet in an accountability group!  Pray the Lord would supply alternative and effective means by which these groups can stay together and retain accountability to each other and to the Lord.  Pray the Lord would sustain the soul who is wavering in their trial.  Pray for GriefShare groups, DivorceCare groups, our New Creations in Christ group, and our Pure Desire group for men.  Pray that individuals in these care groups would not give into loneliness and temptation but would reach out to the Lord and to each other for help.  Also, pray for those support persons who would normally be available to help in crisis, but have now been inhibited by restrictions on interacting.  Pray for chaplaincy programs.  Pray for intercessory prayer groups who can no longer meet in person

God’s Salvation:  Pray the salvation and new life we have in Christ would be the foundation and strength for those in critical care groups.  Pray those struggling with temptation and isolation would press into Jesus and seek Him in His Word for their truth and guidance and strength.  Pray for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit to sustain our critical care ministry people.  That their lives would be a demonstration of God’s power and God’s presence and God’s goodness which brings others to repentance.  Pray that any in these critical care groups who have not surrendered their hearts and lives to Christ would do so.  That they would see Jesus as their foundation and source of strength and recognize in Christ they are a new creation.  The old things have passed away.  Behold, the new have come!

God’s Praise:  Praise God for His promise to never leave us or forsake us.  Praise God for being the God who sees, the God who hears, and the God who is exactly who we need in any and every circumstance and trial and temptation in life.  Praise God for the deliverance He brings from grief and sorrow and hurt and addiction and self-destruction.  Praise God that we can fully rely upon Him for everything we need and everything we are and can become in Christ.  Praise the Lord that we can fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

“God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, that Your Way may be known on earth, Your Salvation among the nations.  Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You” Psalm 67: 1-3