My Next Thirty Years...

There was a country music song a few years ago that was titled, "My Next Thirty Years".  It was sort of a reflection of what has happened in the first thirty years of the singer's life, of all the things he'd done, and what he wanted to do differently over the next three decades.  I liked that song because it made me take a moment and reflect on my own life over the last few decades.  In the last thirty years, I managed to graduate high school, complete a four-year college degree (in only five years!), complete a master's degree, get married, get ordained, have two children, complete a doctoral degree, and serve a total of seven churches!

As I have aged though, I wondered what I might do differently.  I wonder how I would act, what I would believe, where I'd be when I reached a certain age.  The goals I had set for myself so many years ago - how had I done in achieving them?  The reflection set me on a journey of my mind - and how the goals might have been acheived differently.

It seems that our culture is driven to set goals - we're often asked where we'd like to be in five, ten, twenty years or more into the future.  The problem with this is that oftentimes, we are confused when those goals are not realized by a given timeline.  Have we failed?  Was there something we did wrong?  Could we have done something differently?  What happened?  It can send the mind reeling, and the spirit crashing.

And yet, Scripture says that we ought not worry about these things.  Jeremiah 29:11 says: "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope."  In this passage there is grace.  Grace for the exiles to whom Jeremiah was writing, but also to you and me.  When we live in the faith of the one who has planned out the entirety of creation - including our own lives - we are kept secure.  God knows our lives better than we do, and we can rest assured that those plans God has for us will be far better than anything that we could have dreamt. 

Where this comes in most handily is when we begin to remember and reflect.  Looking backward, it is easy to despair, especially when our own plans fall short of our expectations.  But God's grace is sufficient.  And in this grace there is a subtle reminder that when we trust in God's plans, we'll never be disappointed.

So, as we reflect this week about the past thirty years here at Canyon Lake, we can be proud.  Proud of the many accomplishments - new members, baptisms, weddings, confirmations, and all the celebrations that a faithful people of God take part in.  Proud that we've managed to share the gospel message of hope and grace for over three decades. 

And we can be assured that, as a people of God, our faith in the plans that God has for us will take us into the next thirty years - and beyond - with grace and hope as well.  The plans God has for us will not only amaze and astound us, but will call out across the community - We've a story to tell to the nations!  Here's to our next thirty years!  And Beyond!

See you in Church!

Grace and peace,
Brad