Join us sundays at 8:00 & 10:30 AM

Friday, August 6 Devotional from Pastor John Hartman

“This Too Shall Pass”
The common phrase, “This too shall pass” has a long history, but the origin cannot be pinned down to any one person. This quote is a reminder for all of us that regardless of whatever happens in life, -- the good, the bad, and the ugly, and however we choose to deal with it, it will soon pass. This is true to a degree, but it also depends upon how you define “soon.” The point is, whatever challenges, obstacles, sorrows, and struggles in life, they will not last forever. Now this is something I do agree with. As it says in II Corinthians 4:17-18, “For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.” We don’t always understand what is happening to us, but it doesn’t mean God is absent, or that nothing is happening, because even when we can‘t see it with our own eyes, God continues to work in and through our lives to bring about his glory.
Suppose we got to take a trip to California and visit the headquarters of Apple Computer. They took us to a room where they had all of the raw materials for a new I-phone, -- plastic, glass, battery, silicon chips, and then they installed these big nuclear powered fans to blow on those raw materials for a week. If at the end of that week, a sleek, shiny I-phone was to come out of that room, we might be very skeptical. We would want to stick our head inside the room and say, “How did you do that trick?” 
It’s the very same thing with the raw materials in our lives. God pieces together the circumstances of our lives according to His design and purpose, and always, for the good of His children. We may not always be able to see it, but God knows what He is doing. And, God is working His purposes out.   
As I am away this Sunday, Chestnut Level’s former pastor, Rev. Dr. Michael Wilson, returns to preach and lead worship. I am very grateful that Michael was kind enough and willing to plug into my sermon series on “The Bible You thought You Knew” with the phrase, “This Too Shall Pass.” I can hardly wait to hear how God speaks through him on this often misunderstood phrase. 
We will try once again this week to be outside at 8:00 am on the FLC lawn (inside the sanctuary if it rains). If you attend at 8:00 am, you will be able to sit in your car and listen via the FM transmitter on 102.1. At 10:30 am, we will be in the sanctuary, while also broadcasting on Zoom, Facebook Live, and Youtube. 
Pastor John