“When you search for me, you will find me;

if you seek me with all your heart”

Jeremiah 29:13

I am writing this on what up to this point has been the hottest day of the Summer. Temperatures topping 90 degrees, humidity at just about the same numbers, it is hot out there. Right about now the only thing that most of us are seeking is a room that has the A/C cranked up, or a nice cool pool.

I do hope you were able to find one of those two during this stretch of hot days. However, I also recognize that finding that cool space will really only care for our physical needs, it will do little for our spiritual ones. To tend to those needs we must search in a different way, a way that often doesn’t require us to move at all.

The verse from Jeremiah that I shared above is a snippet of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent to those who were living in exile in Babylon. These were a people who were struggling with their faith. They didn’t know who they were or what the future held for them. Jeremiah knew of the struggles they faced so he wanted to encourage them to not lose hope. His message was simple, God has not forgotten you, so don’t forget about God. He wanted the people to know that even with the hardships they faced God was with them, they only needed to search for him with all of their heart and they would find him.

Few of us know what it is to live in exile…but all of us know what it is to go through hardships and to feel like God is not there. The summer months are an easy time to half-heartedly search for God. To not get the response we want and dismiss it as God is not there. My friends, I want to remind you, like Jeremiah reminded his people all those years ago, that God is still there. God is always there.

God has not turned his back on you, on me, or on the church. I want to encourage all of us during these hot, sweaty, sticky summer months to continue to search for God. Invite that presence into your life so that if can tend to all of our needs, physical, emotional and spiritual.

Make it a point to spend time in the Scriptures, in prayer, in song, in fellowship, however it is that you experience God don’t let the summer months slip by without searching for a deeper relationship. I’m willing to bet that when you find that presence, when you find God, you will feel refreshed in a way that no A/C or pool can ever compare.

Blessings,

Pastor Devin

To read the rest of the July newsletter, click here:  July 2018