Life's Seasons

Spring is here!!  Spring and summer are my most favorite seasons of the year.  This winter was difficult.  Temperatures were cold and we seemed to have a large amount of snow and ice.  Winter seemed to last forever!  But winter was only a season.  It seemed to last an entire year but in reality it only lasted 3 months.

We go through “wintery” seasons in life as well.  Times of trial and difficulty can seem to last a lifetime.  We wonder when the time of trial is going to end.  In reality they are only seasons.  Winter serves its purpose and times of trial also serve a purpose—that of causing us to grow!

Remember that in times trial to place your faith in God.  Let Him accomplish His will during the difficult times.  Remember—the time of trial is like winter, it is only a season.

Trust God in the Midst of the Storm

We experienced a severe winter storm this week.  The storm included a great deal of ice, wind and snow.  When the storms are rolling through we keep a close eye on the news. We also signed up to receive automatic text messages from our local news station telling us when severe weather warnings have been issued. The other day my five year-old asked me why we have storms. I told him that there is a purpose in those storms and we just need to ride them out when they come.

Not only do we all encounter severe weather we also experience the storms of life. Sometimes we find ourselves in the midst of trials that test us. Just as there is a purpose for those thunderstorms we encounter there is also a purpose to the trials we experience. They are designed to help us to grow in our relationship with God.

It is amazing how quickly we turn off the TV and resume our activities when the meteorologist gives us the “all clear.” As good as these people are at doing their job they make a lot of mistakes. Even so it is so comforting to hear the news that the weather has passed. I wonder why we cannot so easily take comfort in the promises of God in the Bible when we pass through difficult times.

Severe snow & ice storms are a part of the winter season. We often find ourselves in seasons of trial. During times of trial let us place our faith wholly in God and his promises. He is faithful!

--Pastor Bill Oricks--

“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:6-9, NKJV

Stop & Smell the Roses

I have heard the old saying “stop and smell the roses” since I was a kid. That concept never meant anything to me until our son was born just over 5 1/2 years ago. Until that moment time was just something that ticked by…seconds to minutes to hours to days –you get the picture. When William was born things changed. Time began to mean something to me…especially since it seemed to fly by (even during the nights when there was less than enough sleep). As the days and months passed time began to seem like my archenemy. The daily grind seemed to team-up with time to come against me in every part of my life. The mental schedule seemed to dominate. After a few months I found myself simply existing…going through the same routine each and every day. Even my devotion time with the Lord simply became part of my daily routine. In my mind I was doing life but not really enjoying life.

Almost a year ago in my devotion time with the Lord it hit me…I needed to stop and smell the roses. I needed to stop and count my blessings. I needed to slow down and enjoy everything God had given me. I realized I needed to give my busy schedule to Jesus (no person on this earth has ever been busier than our Lord was when we ministered) and let Him take care of us. I needed to enjoy life.

So what did I do? Through the Lord’s help I let my guard down –and threw that mental schedule out the window. I began to do little projects with my son like fixing a cabinet that wasn’t really broken, telling him a story, playing with trucks…that type of thing. I began taking time-out with my wife…sitting on the couch with her and enjoying our favorite Andy Griffith episodes. I began to meditate on the Lord as I lay down to sleep…asking Him to make me the man, husband, father and pastor I needed to be & thanking Him for this wonderful life He has given me. I began to think about how much fun it was to play basketball with my son that day and how much of a blessing it was to finish the day cuddling with my wife and laughing about the events in Mayberry.

Are you struggling with the mental schedule? My advice would be to “smell the roses” --give your daily schedule to Jesus. Remember to stop and enjoy what the Lord has given you. Most of all take time to praise & thank the Lord for those very blessings. God will honor it and your life will begin to change. God bless!!

Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Psalms 106:1 NIV

Why Do We Fear the Monsters?

I can’t help but laugh at my son. He is five and is now at the point where he is a little afraid of "monsters." Every once in a while he will say “I think I just heard a monster” or “Mommy, are there any monsters?” Of course we respond with the same “There aren’t any monsters” and he will ask “Why?” and we come back with “They don’t exist…they are only pretend”. That will satisfy him and he will go back to his play time. My wife and I will giggle after we have this discussion with him.

The process seems to work this way: he starts to become afraid, he takes that fear to us, we tell him the truth and he is satisfied…to play, sleep, eat, whatever he was doing. It is a little funny that little ones can be so afraid of monsters or the “boogey-man” (at least that is what we called him when I was a kid). Soon he will grow up, realize monsters are not real and we will no longer hear these questions…he will be at peace, right?

We roll our eyes and think a child’s obsession with monsters is hilarious. Kid’s stuff!! Haha!! But you know I have learned that monsters simply change forms as we become adults. Many times we can find ourselves living in fear. Not of ugly and scary-looking monsters but ugly situations like overdue bills, illness, job situations, relationship problems…you name it. I think we need to learn from our little ones. They become afraid and take the need to us! We comfort them and they can sleep in peace. We hold onto our fears/needs and refuse to hand them over to our Father in Heaven. We may pray but we refuse to let the peace of God invade our lives. Instead of listening to His voice and allowing Him to work in our lives we carry the monster around in our mind…causing us stress, sleepless nights, illness and total unhappiness.

We need to give these "monsters" to our loving Heavenly Father. Also, be sure to trust and listen to Him. We can then be like my son and have peace of mind. If the fear returns give it to God again. If you are serving Him you have no reason to fear those silly monsters!!

--Pastor Bill Oricks--

"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

Come and Dine

Come and Dine...what an invitation!!

It is funny how powerful an invitation can be. A personal invitation can make a person feel unique, special and cared for. It is nice to receive an invitation to a wedding, birthday party or any other special event. Being invited to dinner with friends just seems to make my wife and I very excited! It doesn’t matter if it is a special event or dinner with friends ---knowing that people choose to spend time with us is very humbling. We always leave the event talking about the great time we had.

This makes me think about the amazing and fantastic invitation our Lord has for us!! In John chapter 21 Peter and a few of the disciples decided to go fishing after the Resurrection. It was definitely a rough trip—they fished all night and caught nothing. When morning came they heard a sweet voice call to them and tell them to cast the net on the other side of the boat. The voice was Jesus and the men caught 153 great fish. Of course they headed to the shore and saw Jesus…He had come to the shore and prepared a meal for the weary fishermen. John 21:12 includes the beautiful invitation from the Lord: “come and dine.” Not only had Jesus given the men a mountain of fish but gave them a sample dinner on the shore.

What an invitation! God does not show favoritism (Acts 10:34)…we know the invitation to “come and dine” is for us as well. We can step off the boat and spend time on the shore with our Lord. As I mentioned earlier, it is wonderful and exciting to receive an invitation from friends. It is beyond words to know we have that invitation from the Lord Jesus! Get alone with Jesus today…you too can have a sample dinner in preparation for the glory to come!!

"Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine..." John 21:12a

--Pastor Bill Oricks--