Goals. I have been thinking about this so much lately.
No, not the NHL kind. Nothing to do with hockey in any way. We all set goals for ourselves. What they become depends on what God and Jesus will bless with the Holy Spirit.
We knew when we moved back to Edmonton that the garage with our house needed replacing. That was the goal. A new pad and a new garage. That is not where we are right now. Our goal was a heated garage with a working space for Pam to do her art. A bathroom was also wanted for our double car garage. Oh, and it was to be bigger for more storage. And then things began to unfold. It turns out our sewer line was near collapse. It was built in 1949 with the original house and was clay. ABS piping will not connect with it. We replaced the sewer line entirely. Heating would be natural gas. We found an active gas line in our basement not connected to the furnace/hot water or anything else. It was removed and no explosions happened. The pad in the garage was cracked and broken. Removing it we found a second garage pad that had simply been buried. A larger garage meant moving the sidewalk. We found another one under it. We removed both buried sections. You can see how this project has gone in many unforeseen directions. And the costs keep mounting. We have many examples of this in the bible. Things going a whole different direction than is expected. Ezekiel has been with me lately. He is to be a messenger to the nation of Israel. He has no idea of what that means. Reading Ezekiel 36 and 37, I am certain that he did not see talking to creation and recreating a whole host of dead people in his job description.
Paul set out to plead his case before the Emperor in Rome. He did not foresee the events unfolding that would have him doing ministry on the island of Malta. Acts 27 and 28 are quite the story of things changing direction in a rush.
And then, nobody saw Easter coming. Especially not the way it ends. However, the disciples stay the course that Jesus has set. They hang together to see what will happen next.
So much of our lives in the last four years have been that; scrambling to adjust to shifting needs like being in school in person, or in school online. Like how much hybrid work we are now willing to do while balancing other pursuits we enjoy.
In the middle of all of this, Jesus' call is still the same. Come and follow along where I am leading. Doing that, we are asked to witness in word and deed to what we are doing. Now, how many shifts will you and I need to make this week? Pr. Scott
