“… for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning …” Isaiah 46: 9b-10a
She wasn’t warned the book’s plot was so intense! It was 1 a.m., and the uncertainty of the outcome was more than she could handle. She flipped to the last few pages to read the ending. Relieved, she could now fall asleep. Some might regard her action as unthinkable! Others consider it the only sane solution.
In many of life’s decisive moments, we want to know the end in advance. Is it the right time to apply for the promotion? Or buy a house? Which daycare is the best one? It would be so much easier if God would tell us the outcome before we make the decision. We don’t want a sign. We want a billboard! How differently would we live if we truly trusted that our gracious God knows the end from the beginning? He does! God promises, I declare “… the end from the beginning …” (Isaiah 46:10b).
God always keeps His word. We need only pray for His guidance, make the best decision we can, and surrender the outcome to Him. The blessed ending is assured.
- Again, we include Sharon Kirsch returning this past week to the hospital with infection, now home, trying to make progress with chemo treatments.
- We praise you for your grace and love along with Norbert Netz, Mark Braun, Jeremy Braun, three generations all sharing the same birthday on Oct 2. Continue to bless them individually and as a family, as you build them up and secure them in your salvation.
- We pray for Lyle Cottrell, Ellie Lembcke’s neighbor who got a staph infection after a should surgery and now has to return to surgery. We add the same prayer for our own new member, Gary Liethen who is continuing to battle an infection from a knee replacement that threatens his leg.
- Our prayer of concern merges with that of Jen Ford for her son Joey, who now has completed his second hip surgery. Lord, you are the Great Physician. Comfort him as he heals and bring your care through others to assist him. We join Pete Suelflow for his Uncle Gerald Suelflow, how is in the hospital with pneumonia. Guard his life in and through his Savior and lead him in the way everlasting.
- We seek comfort together with Pastor Paul & Lynne Kelm as the Lord has called their son, Peter, into eternal life. Here even in our grief the resurrection of God’s Son from the grave holds us because we know we know that he has now experienced the very message which he has preached, salvation through faith in Jesus. Lord, give Pete’s family, and especially Angie and the children, strength and courage.
- We have new weather catastophes to bring to your throne, O God, as Hurricane Maria tore much of Puerto Rico apart and Mexico sustained an aggressive earth quake. We continue to seek your compassion on the many impacted by these storms. Grant strength to those who are suffering and safety to those who are attending to their needs. We pray that more people will learn of you and rely upon you, not only for their temporary needs, but especially for their eternal needs. Open the door for God’s people to show your love and share your love and thereby draw more people into your secure family of faith.
500th anniversary of the Reformation – Lord God, we praise you for returning your light to the world through the Reformation. How blessed we are to see your gospel of grace in Jesus proclaimed throughout the world. What a privilege you have given us to be a part of that work. May this special anniversary of the Reformation remind us of the power of your Word and the great opportunity we have to share it. Amen.