Dear Church Family,

It has been an interesting spring. We’ve gone from record highs to below-freezing temperatures within a couple days. We’ve had high wind warnings and days with very little wind at all. The only thing that has been fairly consistent is the ongoing “fire weather warning” I see every day on my weather app. We need rain like crazy, and we’re not getting it. As trivial as it sounds, it reminds me of life.

Some days it feels like the sun is shining down on you; other days, you can’t find warmth anywhere. Some days you struggle standing because of the forces against you; other days, it’s like a walk in the park. Most days, you feel something within you warning of a potential threat that could be just over the horizon, but as you look ahead, what you need to get past the warnings does not seem to be coming. Others seem to be getting it. But for some reason, it’s missing in your life.

Have you ever felt like that?

Psalm 22 is a Messianic Psalm written by David, and it is obvious that it was written during a time when David felt exactly like that. It is the Psalm that Jesus quoted while He was on the cross. It is the Psalm that was the text for a sermon I once wrote but never preached titled, “The Tomb is Empty, but God, So Am I!” It is also a Psalm that reminds us that God is always worth praising.

Psalm 22:23 states, “You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!” 

As hard as it is to see Him through the dry dust and dark smoke we sometimes experience in our lives, God is still worth praising! On one of the darkest days I’ve experienced in a long time, I sang the song by CeCe Winans, “The Goodness of God,” over and over again. It didn’t change my circumstances, but it changed my heart, and on that very day, God sent me rain! My prayer for you is that even now, you will choose a song or a verse you can sing or recite for those dark days, knowing that the rain is coming.

In closing, I’ve seen the spiritual weather forecast, and things look good! For that, we praise God!

I love you all! – Pastor Daniel