A Note From The Pasture... The events of the last six months have caused me to reminisce of the things I have survived to get to this point in my life. For me truly it is only by the grace of God that I'm still alive. There have been many, I'll be brief and only name a couple from my youth, as most of you have journeyed with me on the few most recent.I was about nine and on the Jersey coast running into the ocean with waves twice my size, diving right through the middle of them with no fear. I remember being bent almost in half backwards, rolled and tumbled under the water, held there until my lungs hurt. Having just enough time to break the surface of the water and grab a breath only to get knocked down by another giant wave.Then in high school shop I was in a lumber storage loft wiring a lighting fixture with the wire still live, being electrocuted and praising God that I hadn't been thrown ten feet to the concrete floor below. Instead my back was pierced from a random board with nails protruding from it, my left wrist burned where the electricity entered my body and my legs ached for days as that was the path the electricity chose to exit my body. The nurse said, “praise God it chose a vertical path and not horizontal because the electricity may have passed through your heart and you might not be here now.” So I joined her and praised God.All this to say, “When we walk in the challenges of life with the confidence that God is with us, we aren't easily knocked over.”Psalm 57:7 in the NLT says, “My heart is confident in you, O God; my heart is confident. No wonder I can sing your praises!” That's like saying, “I can run up to that 6-foot wave, dive right into the middle of it and be fine.” Why? Because the God I serve is greater than any force that wants to pummel me, or try to knock me down. No matter what force may attack us in this life, Romans 8:31 reassures us, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” We are, more than conquerors when we say "God is on my side."Psalm 57:1-3 gives insight as to what we should pray while in difficult times, “Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy! I look to you for protection. I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until the danger passes by. I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill His purpose for me. He will send help from heaven to rescue me, disgracing those who hound me. My God will send forth His unfailing love and faithfulness.”God allows the difficult times so we learn to trust Him only, to take away any doubt or fear, that we might give testimony as to how He has been moving and working in our lives. How will you approach the waves of your life? Are you trusting the Lord with all of your heart? Or are you making your way through on your own understanding? Psalm 40:4-5 says, “Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. Many, LORD my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare.” We all have a story to tell, what's yours?Let's go, be the church. Yours in His Love, Pastor James