God Is With Us

One month from now, I will be taking a month off from ministry at Bixby Knolls Christian Church. I have been working with our elders and board to arrange my time off so that I can have a sort of “mini-sabbatical,” which – as I’ve mentioned before – will include a trip to Brazil.

The timing is right. I may not have the money to do all I want, but for various reasons this is the time for me to go.

Even so, I’m nervous. I’ve never taken a trip like this, much less by myself. Both fear and lack of money are the two reasons why I’ve never taken a trip like this before.

Strangely, my anxiety has been helped recently by funerals and memorial services. We’ve remembered the lives of Zoila Esperanza Melgar and Hattie Smith, and this week will be the funeral for Rick McIntosh. And the most-read scripture at funerals and memorial services is Psalm 23.

So I have been reminded that, no matter what journey we take, God is with us. If that journey takes us through the “darkest valley,” the “valley of the shadow of death,” God is with us. If that journey takes us from this life into the life-to-come, God is with us. If that journey takes us on a 12-hour plane flight to South America, God is with us. God’s rod and staff protect us. And no matter what, we have nothing to fear.

And this is true for us as a congregation. Where will our journey lead? For starters, it leads to a month-long period without a pastor. Fortunately we have an excellent group of elders, whose spiritual leadership I continue to be impressed by and thankful for. In fact, elsewhere in this newsletter you will see the first two Stewardship articles that I have asked our elders to write. Although usually only one will appear in each newsletter, there are two in this newsletter because I want you to see the diversity of thought among them even though they are on the same topic. I cherish this diversity. It’s one of BKCC’s greatest strengths.

One final thing: the elders have told me that they are struggling with this assignment. My response to them is that transformation or renewal never comes without struggle. Whatever kind of transformation or renewal we seek, we are going to have to struggle to make it happen. But even then, in the struggle, God is with us, and we have nothing to fear.

Blessings, Pastor Danny