From the desk of Pastor Jim

Have you ever walked into a room and completely forgotten why you went there? You stand for a moment, look around, and hope something will jog your memory. Sometimes you even walk back to where you started, hoping your original thought is still waiting there!

Apparently, forgetting is nothing new.

In Isaiah 51, God tells the people to stop for a moment and remember: “Look to the rock from which you were cut.” In other words, “Remember where you came from. Remember what I have done. Remember that I have been faithful.”

That is good advice for us, especially when life feels uncertain. It is easy to become so focused on what might happen tomorrow that we forget how faithfully God carried us through yesterday.

Think about your own journey. There have probably been times when you wondered how you would make it through—and yet here you are. There were prayers, struggles, disappointments, unexpected changes, and perhaps a few plans that went completely sideways. Through it all, God remained present.

Isaiah gives us an especially beautiful promise: God can make the wilderness like Eden and the desert like the garden of the Lord. I love that picture because we all encounter a few deserts along the way. Sometimes life feels dry, difficult, or uncertain. Yet God looks at a desert and sees possibilities for a garden.

That doesn’t mean every problem magically disappears. It means our problems never get the final word. God’s grace does.

Maybe God also invites us to become little “gardeners of grace.” A kind word, a phone call, a visit, a prayer, a meal, or a simple act of encouragement can plant a seed of hope in someone’s desert. We may think it is something small, but God has always been pretty good at doing big things with small beginnings.

So when the future seems uncertain, remember the rock. Remember the prayers God has answered, the people God has sent, the strength God has given, and the grace that has carried you this far.

And then keep going.

Keep trusting.

Keep loving.

Keep laughing.

Keep planting seeds of kindness.

The God who was faithful yesterday is still faithful today—and will be faithful tomorrow.

And somewhere, perhaps where we least expect it, God is still growing gardens in the desert.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Jim