When the Fasten Seatbelt Light Comes On

The sermon series I have been sharing the last month, "When the Fasten Seatbelt Light Comes On", has been very encouraging to me. I know that all of us go through times when we feel like we are going through "turbulence". In fact, as Christians we are promised that we will go through tribulation. Jesus said it explicitly - "in the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world." There are four things that we should do When the Fasten Seatbelt Light Comes On":

Pray - It seems obvious that we should pray, but the real key to "praying" is to ask God for "His will" to be done. We often ask God to direct us "around" the turbulence or to have the turbulence "go away". However, we are to pray and ask God to help us through the turbulence. It is not wrong to ask God to do those things, but we must not neglect asking God to give us "wisdom". James tells us that when we do that He will give to all men liberally. It also tells us that he will not "upbraid" us (or get aggravated with us) for asking. Step two - we should

Remember - We certainly need to Pray and then we need to remember. Over and over in Scripture we see that we should "remember" what the Lord has done for us. We know that the last thing Jesus did with his disciples was share with them the "Lord's Supper", and he told us to take the bread and cup in "remembrance" of Him. Throughout the O.T. we see the nation of Israel being told to "remember" how the Lord lead them out of Egypt. Moses stated that it is "vital" that the nation of Israel "not forget" how God had led them out of the promised land. We need to "remember" what God has done throughout Scripture and what He has done for us personally. Step three - we should

Seek - To "seek" we need to make an effort to really "take note" of our priorities. This was the emphasis of the "Sermon on the Mount". In Matthew 6, we are told not to "worry" as the Lord takes care of the flowers of the field and the birds of the air. He also made it clear that worry cannot even add an "inch" to your height. Step four - we should

Follow - The fourth step is that we are to "follow". As we progress through the steps of Prayer, Remembering, and Seeking, we become "proactive" by "taking up our cross and following" Christ. As we "focus" on Christ and trust Him through the turbulence we can reflect His "peace" and "joy".

Life is hard, but God is good!

Pastor Mike