Pastor DJ Lindsay from Pastors Desk

Lately I’ve been learning how much God desires to encourage and teach us, if we only make ourselves available to him. This looks different for everyone, but for me the secret place usually coincides with sipping a cup of coffee. Full disclosure, I have a number of contraptions I use to extract the best cup I can make, meanwhile Lindsay supports me in the middle of my decent into caffeinated madness. Recently, while crafting my morning cup of coffee I was trying desperately to recreate the flavors that the bag said I should taste. When a coffee roaster shares their beans with the world, they stamp the bag with what flavors or “notes” the drinker “should” taste in their opinion. It’s often a challenge to recreate those same flavors, and takes it experimenting and precision. While in the midst of trying to force my desired result I felt Holy Spirit drop truth into my very core. The beverage was delicious and had a very good flavor, albeit not the one I wanted. Rather than enjoy the nice cup of coffee I had brewed I was too busy fussing over not getting a desired result. And then it hit me, this goes much deeper. A small example of what so often happens in our lives. We have an expectation of what we want to see or experience, so we frantically try to meet that expectation. This can be either self-inflicted or pressed on us by someone else in our life. Remember, we plan our lives but God ordains our steps and sometimes he just wants us to appreciate we are right now. If we are not careful, disappointment can creep in and zap our joy. Pastor Barb said recently, “let us be thankful”— and I agree whole heartedly. When areas of our lives may not be where we want them to be, let’s offer them up to Jesus and let him help define our experience.