Friends, in Christ, we are not defined by our worst moments. 

I am such a weak hypocrite most days. And yet, I am Ross … beloved Son of God, justified brother of Christ, a messenger of the gospel of the Kingdom. It is almost too much to contemplate. 

Here’s the good news of an incarnated God. He is with you in the midst of all of it. In school runs, board meetings, meet the teacher nights, football schedules, takeout drive throughs, morning coffee runs, stressful budget meetings, mounting laundry, stacking homework, complex schedules … all of it. There isn’t an element of your life that is somehow too earthy, too human, too flesh and bone for the God who showed the world who He is by manifesting in the midst of very real lives.

Even when it seems like the people of God are dormant and we start to wonder if we are all alone, God is still loving. He even speaks in Babylon. He even moves amongst the darkest nights. The world might not be going all that well, but God is still God, and as we get a glimpse of Him, He is still revealed as glorious and majestic and wise and holy and sovereign. 

What do you think about when you think you are going to die? I had opportunity to find out this last week.

What if were to remember and to believe that God exists, and what if we allowed that reality to interrupt our view of absolutely everything else?

I can’t wait for Jesus to come back - just as He went. I find myself watching the sky more and more as I get older. But remember, that His last words for us before He left were words of blessing, purpose, promise and liberating limitation.

People are incredible. People are also the worst. What a wonderfully, messy, potential and risk-riddled endeavor it is to be a human being. 

Don’t just try to make it to summer. Ask God to help you stand firm in the faith to the end. And remember, that in a manic society of busy activity, one of the most counter-cultural things that the people of God can do is to stand still together in an ancient assembly and hold fast to some unchanging truths.

You got another go today. What a gift! Lord-willing, you get another one tomorrow. Make the most of it.

I usually read this narrative with a particular focus on David, but this time I have been fascinated with Saul. He is a tragic tale of self-obsession, neurosis, suspicion, self-loathing and a tragedy of deep insecurity. And yet he had so many things in his favor, but he just couldn’t see it. 

I am more like Saul than I dare to admit.