~ PASTOR’S NOTE ~
I don’t know about you, but I am really uncomfortable with not being in control. I understand that one of the most basic Christian understandings is that God is in control and we are to trust in that, but I find it much easier said than done. See, I am a helper. It seems to be something that is baked into my DNA, and when you combine that with my theological understanding that, as disciples, we are called to be the hands and feet (and even at times, face) of Christ in this world for those in need, it is easy for me to slip into a headspace where I am never able to do enough.
Then there are those in the faith who are content to lean into the idea of God being in control as a way to shrug their shoulders and say, “only God’s in control and therefore, only God can fix it.” This too often becomes a justification for not engaging with the pain and the need and the struggles of the world. And I’m not comfortable with that approach either. There is so much need and so much hurt in the world, and that suffering is being inflicted on beloved children of God, those created in the Imago Dei (image of God), who we are charged to love and seek justice for. I am struck by the words of Pirkei Avot, known as Ethics of Our Fathers, one of the best-known and most cited of the Jewish texts, and the apothegm, “It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it.”
So, it is mine to do, but not all of it. God is in control, but I am not allowed to sit back and coast on that truth. Today I will simply need to have faith that God made me enough for this moment. For what does the Lord require of us, but to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God.