Most of you know that I’ve been riding my bike to the church building lately.  Gas prices are so high, and I’m so out of shape, it just seemed a wise thing to do.  Today, after going about 2.5 miles, I got a flat tire.  So I turned around and walked the bike home, took a shower, and drove the van to work.  This might have been providence.  It gave me time out to ponder the things of God.

As I walked along, I began to think about things.  You’d think I’d have time for this when I ride the bike, but I’ve found that it takes a great deal of concentration to avoid being hit by cars.  What I thought about was the things that God has done for me.  Not for me individually, but the things that God has done for the church here in Palmdale in the time that I’ve been your preacher.  What He does for the church, He does for me.  I believe that we should all share that view.

I began to think particularly about the people that have left.  Too many have gone back to living in and of the world.  Those I think about daily.  But today, I was thinking about those that are still faithful, and yet have left us.  Some have moved from the area.  Some found it more convenient to worship in other local congregations.  Some found it more comfortable to worship in other congregations.  Most told me why they were leaving when they left.  These were mighty men and women of God.  They were active in the work here.  And I had one common thought as each told me they were leaving.  How will the church get along without them?

I believe that it is the will of God that Christians get so involved in each other’s lives that we view one another as necessary.  Yet, as necessary as I believed these brethren were, it seemed as though we grew after they left.  And what was even more amazing, the other congregations benefited as well.  And in this I see the hand of God. “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.” (1 Cor 12: 18)  God puts the brethren where He can use them the most. 

I didn’t think only of departing brethren.  But there have been other problems over the years.  And some seemed insurmountable at the time.  Yet we came through.  Somehow we were better off spiritually in spite of the difficulty.  And I see God’s hand in this as well.  As I pushed my bike up my driveway it became clearer than ever that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Rom 8: 38-39)

I guess what I’m saying in all of this is that we all need to take time out to think about the things of God.  We need to take inventory of our blessings, particularly in times that we find ourselves discouraged.  And we may even find that many of our greatest blessings have come on the heels of our greatest hardships.  We may also find that something even so small as a flat tire can bring us closer to God.