Dear Central Members & Friends,
I hope your week is off to an excellent start and you are modeling grace and experiencing the presence of God in your life in unique ways!! If you have been spending quality time applying the spiritual lessons in your daily life from our study series on “Understanding the Manifest Presence of God,” I am extremely confident that God has been speaking to your heart and you are more sensitive to His presence than you have been previously!!
Growing spiritually is like working out and going to the gym, you get out of it what you put into it!! God does not force His will upon us and we don’t grow spiritually and experience the abundant blessings He has for us; we don’t make knowing God and communing with Him a priority in our life!!
On Sunday we took a look at I Kings 19:1-14 and examined the major transition and contrast in Elijah’s life from I Kings chapter 18. We discovered in chapter 18 that Elijah was on top of the world and when we drop anchor in chapter 19, we find him depressed and afraid!!
We all go through difficult transitions and trials in life where we feel isolated and alone. However, the good news is that God never leaves or forsakes us during these difficult time periods. If we stay close to him and allow Him to minister to us, He will ultimately rescue us from these difficult situations as our loving and Holy Father!!!
We discovered a rich blessing on Sunday by looking at how God graciously ministered to Elijah during his moment of depression and darkness. Depression is a serious mental condition that impacts more than 100 million people around the world. It is extremely serious and impacts people from all walks of life. We see Elijah in I Kings 19, the great prophet of God, wanting his own life to be taken. The good news is God knew what He needed and ministered to him and got him back on the right track.
Elijah experienced the “Manifest Presence of God” even while being depressed!! This is a great lesson for us all that if we can look beyond our circumstances, God is always present and willing to help us if we walk by faith and not by sight!!
I pray you put these practical truths into action in your daily life as you encounter trials now and in the future.
Grace & Shalom!!!
Pastor Perry Stuckey