The mission of recovery from the Mouse River flood has the potential to paralyze us in fear. The size of the job before us is so big and daunting it is difficult to even know where to begin. We can find peace and rest in the fact that our God is bigger than anything or anyone, and he will see us through this fight all the way to the end.
We will prevail, one house at a time and one family at a time, until we rebuild our community and show everyone in it that all of us are better and can do more when we work together. We will prevail because we know, "If God be for us then who (or what) can be against us?" (Romans 8:31)
There are many examples in Scripture that show us how regular, ordinary people just like you and me, found a way to prevail even in the most difficult of situations.
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Pastor Mark Frueh
In Acts 16:22-23 we find that the Apostle Paul and his friend Silas had been beaten and thrown in prison for sharing their faith in Jesus. At midnight, with their feet in stocks, they chose to worship God and God sent an earthquake to shake open their prison door. At our midnight (our darkest hour) we need to remember that our God is bigger than any problem we will ever face! Help is just a prayer away.
Tribulations, troubles and trials will always be a part of our lives. Distress and persecution will pound at our doors. Famine, peril and sword are always lurking. Floods, economic peril, worry and anxiety are enough to cause us to stagger under their weight. But friends, we must not forget that even when those things come our way, we can still be over-comers in Christ Jesus.
Jesus, who died and rose again defeating the power of death, is sitting at the right hand of God interceding for us! And we know that Jesus gets God's attention when he prays. We also know of the Father's great love for us. He will never forget us or lose track of us. He will see us through even our darkest hour.
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Reflections, a mini-sermon written by Minot and area clergy, will appear each Saturday in The Minot Daily News. Clergy interested in writing a mini-sermon should contact Religion Editor Loretta Johnson at 857-1952 or Debbie Sandvold at 857-1950. The toll-free number is 1-800-735-3229.
This is the time to look at the size of our problems compared to the greatness of our God! This is our midnight and it's time to praise God for who he is and for his greatness. It is time to rest in the fact that he has our lives in his control and that he knows the plans he has for us and they are good.
It is time to see with the eyes of faith that his mighty armies surround us and that they are way bigger than anything we will ever face. It is time to agree with the Apostle Paul when he said, "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present (including floods), nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Friends, together we will rebuild our lives and our community. Yes, we will do it with effort and sweat, but we will be successful because our God is all powerful and ready to answer our deepest needs as we call out to him in prayer.
Pastor Mark Frueh, First Presbyterian Church, Minot