Hey Friend,

Hope all is well! Are you finding some kind of respite for this stifling heat? As I write, we have been enduring heat index's of plus 100 degrees. Fun days! I do recall the 5 days I was on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia a few years back, hiking in record-setting heat indexes (as I found out later!) with a 50 pound pack on my back, going up and down mountains for hours on end. I had no business being out there, rookie hiker as I was. One of God's mercies is that I didn't know any better. All I knew was this walk was hard. A metaphor for life, eh? I wanted to leave you with a bit of encouragement by way of a sneak preview to one of my sermon points for this Sunday, July 24th. Yes, it will be another hot day! I'm preaching from Genesis 35. Verse 18 will be what I ask you to contemplate here by way of preview. Sadly, we seen here, that Rachel, giving birth to Benjamin, is dying. In her sadness she names him "Ben-oni" which means "son of my sorrow." Jacob, undoubtedly sad over the imminent loss of his beloved wife, refuses this name which connotes sorrow. Instead, he renames Ben-oni "Benjamin" which means the "son of the right hand." What, might I suggest, is going on here? Let me suggest the following. You can fill out the thoughts on your own . . .

- Jacob knew that he (Jacob) was no longer the center of things. If he was to "live on", it would be through his sons. Our lives, too, are ultimately about another Son. Our hope too, is for someone greater than Jacob (John 4:12)

- Jacob is putting his hope, not in his present circumstances, but in his God, who will turn this sadness into something hopeful. The God that Jacob (and we) is hoping upon, is the God who will one day give the Son of His right hand to become the Son of His sorrow, to bleed, suffer, and die for us. Yet, the grave is not the end!

So, what might this mean for us today? It means, in part, that we are loved and led by a good God. In His providence He will turn our mourning into dancing (Ps.30:11). No, we never tell someone who is in the middle of great pain and loss, that "for those who love God all things work together for good . . . (Rom. 8:28)", but we do pray for them. We do ask God to remind them, somehow, that we serve a God, in Christ, who knows pain and suffering. And suffering does not have the final word. There is hope because we serve a God of hope. So, as you read this, whoever you are and wherever you are in your journey, may God give you the faith to see that a deeper reality exists that you only see with the eyes of faith. He loves you. He is in control. He can be trusted. Lord, we do believe this. Help us with our unbelief. Like Jacob, may our sorrow be the hinge (eventually!) upon which we experience your joy.