Trust...

This morning I read the following;

"Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord sourrounds his people both now and forevermore."

These verses are from Ps 125 and the theme of trust is a big one for me right now.

So why TRUST in particular? Well, I think that I wonder whether God is always for me or whether He is always for other people and only sometimes for me...sounds crazy but I think that I have lived some of my most recent life like that. People who know me well know that I did not want to go to Bend, OR, and then a year later had a lot of trouble leaving the place that I had grown to love and had loved me back. As I was driving from Bend to Chicago, I wondered if it would ever be possible for me to go back as there as a pastor after graduation as there was, for now, no Covenant Church and therefore no job possibilities. My heart still counts that as a home - very close to my first home in Edinburgh - and what about my "family" that I have left there? When am I going to see them again, and will we continue to be in each other's lives, albeit, from afar. So could God really call me to a place that is as good for me as Bend was or have I run out of my "good" coupons? What a crazy thing to think that the infinite God of the universe, who by His very word called light and it was so...darkness and it was so...the sun, the moon, the creatures...and it was so....How could this God run out of good? He is good so has an endless amount of good to give to His children. So I am learning to trust that God has way more good for me than all I could ask for or imagine and while this is a very different season of life from last year, it is not all bad - if indeed it is bad at all.

I have just finished the first week of my final year here at North Park, and I am exhausted. Usually at the beginning of the school year I am full of energy, raring to go, waking very early in the morning and enjoying the morning sounds with less noise outside, fewer fire trucks/ambulances, cars, and people, and the air is that bit fresher...however, not this semester. I am tired, mostly from jumping straight from arriving back to Chicago and into the Greek intensive class. Last week was moving week and then here we are, straight into school. Last week was far from restful as Sarah and I moved boxes and furniture into our "new" apartment, and then went about the task of unpacking those boxes and arranging our belongings as we wished....however there is only so much of that I can do at the one time. This weekend will be to unpack my "winter" suitcase, arrange the few remaining items into their allotted place and get on with the task of school with classes and assignments and all that school brings.

Yesterday I met with a friend who I have got to know a little over this past year and she reminded me that all I need to do is what I have to do to get myself through school....enough to do justice to what I been called to do, but not so much that I get stressed by the amount that there is to do...which could be a lot with 5 classes. So I spent most of this afternoon putting due dates into my calender and beginning to do reading and assignments already assigned. It feels good to have done that and to know that I still have Saturday and Sunday to continue the study process. Already I have 2 quizzes next week so I need to get onto that. With 2 language classes this semester, both are demanding and needing my attention in force so I am trying to keep my head above water as much as I can.

So trusting that God has me more than covered, knows exactly how exhausted I really am and longs for me to sit with Him every day wherever and whenever I can knowing that Jesus is the One who said, "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest." So this is where I come, knowing that, as a human being, I will get tired and there is only one place to lay that burden.

Blessings my friends.