What would you do?

Hey everybody…
 
It is unquestionably one of the most disorienting experiences in life. It can also radically bewilder and confuse us in our relationship with God. It’s one of our greatest barriers to faith. It is why many in our world simply cannot trust or believe in God. Simply put, it’s humanity’s greatest question about the Creator. Curious yet? Let me tell you all about it in Deeper Thoughts below….
 
But first… some great stuff is happening at Mt. Hope!
                                                                                                                 
·      Men: We have a ton of exciting new activities and events in the works to reconnect our men and grow in Jesus Christ:
o   Saturday, July 26, 8:30 – 10:00 a.m. – Men’s Breakfast. Come eat, connect with the fellas, and explore what’s upcoming in the Men's Ministry. Text Phil Trazinski to get involved helping make the breakfast (571-328-8099).
o   THEN… afterwards, Saturday, July 26 at 12:00 p.m., the guys are going to an escape room in Ashburn!
o   Sign up for our Men’s Ministry updates on What’s App… Here’s how: 1) download and open the free “What’s App” application to your device. 2) Search for “Mens Ministry M25:40”. 3) Ask to join. 4) You’ll be welcomed by an admin once he confirms you’re not a robot. 
 
·      Teens:  TONIGHT – meet at the church firepit 7:30 – 9:00 p.m. for an evening of worship, prayer and sharing. Weather permitting we’ll be at the fire pit; if storms arise, we’ll meet by candlelight in the sanctuary.
o   AND… Youth Group THIS Sunday 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., snacks, games, testimonies, and the Word! To get plugged into our growing and awesome youth group, email Jessica Sauder: [email protected].
 
·      Kids, middle schoolers, and parents: Furnace Mountain Christian Summer Camp is coming up FAST! Join us for this Day-Camp for age-based experiences, August 4 - August 8, 9:00 – 3:00 p.m. each day. BEST NEWS: For Mt. Hope families, the cost is only $25.00 per student! For a whole week of camp!!! Transportation to/from the church is available. To secure our special Mt. Hope pricing, Chris Bowen will be handling your registration individually. Click here to email Chris to RSVP or with questions!
 
·      Join me for “The Daily Six” – six minutes each morning in the Word of God, Monday through Friday, on our YouTube channel. If you’d like to receive daily email reminders and you’re not already getting them, click here to sign up!
 
·      Plan to join us for Mt. Hope’s 190th Anniversary celebration Sunday, August 24 – a great day of worship, fellowship, southern pot-luck yummies, historical experiences, and gratitude to our God for all He has done at Mt. Hope. If you’d like to be involved—especially with helping pull together historical content--click here to email Sherri Eads.
 
OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and you who have not a single question about your life… BUT…
 
 
Some Deeper Thoughts…
 
Anyone who has faced this will tell you it is stunning, disorienting, confusing, and usually quite debilitating.
 
Sorry to hit you with a heavy on a warm summer Friday. I know you’d rather sit outside at your favorite restaurant and think only happy thoughts tonight. And I pray that’s what your Friday evening has in store for you as it does for me and Sherri—spending some quality time with close friends and family in abundant joy and peace.
 
Most of the time, this is what life is. Good times, peace, fun, and joy mixed in with an annoying touch of mediocrity and drudgery. That’s the good life, and it’s what we all pursue.
 
But then there are the really dark moments. It’s when the whole world seems to collapse in on us.
 
·      A lay off. Loss of income. Unemployment.
 
·      A divorce. Broken trust. Hurt feelings.
 
·      A dismal diagnosis. Pain and suffering. Fear.
 
·      A tragedy. Loved ones killed. Raging grief.
 
·      A fire. Everything gone. Immeasurable loss.
 
·      [Insert your horrific event here…. ]
 
Did I mention an apology for throwing a heavy on you this evening?
 
When something of this magnitude hits, the timing is never good. Worse: the pain, hardship, fear, and disorientation are truly overwhelming. This is when the spiritual life becomes incredibly difficult. Where is God? Why is He not helping me? How could He let something like this happen? What did I do to deserve this?
 
If you’ve been keeping up with our “Knowing God” readings and The Daily Six this week, you’ve been with us in the Book of Job—the story of a perfectly righteous man who lost everything in a single day. His family. His business. His money. His prosperity. His health. Job’s wife wanted him to curse God and die; his friends badgered him about what kind of terrible sin had brought this tragedy upon himself.
 
What would you do? What would you say?
 
What have you said when something like this has occurred in your life?
 
For Job, his trust in God and his worship of God were unshaken. As he learned the news hit-after-hit over the course of just a few hours—messengers coming one after the other with more and more bad news—his response was instinctive and unflinching: “At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised’” (Job 1:20-21).
 
Did you catch that? Instantly. Reflexively. He worshipped.
 
For most of us, great tragedies of this sort lead us to charge God with wrongdoing. “God, this isn’t fair! What did I do to deserve this?!?!” Not Job. He believed the goodness of God despite what he was experiencing.
 
This isn’t easy. Especially with the further revelation that behind the spiritual curtain, God and the devil appear to be playing a game of sporty chess with Job’s life (see Job 1:6-12 and 2:1-7). The goodness and worthiness of God to be worshipped is really, really hard to stomach under these conditions, is it not?
 
This Sunday let’s take a deeper look behind that spiritual curtain. Let’s try to make sense of what was—and is—really going on between God and the devil. Let’s see if we can make sense of where real suffering and hardship are coming from. Let’s see if we can discover the heart of God in such a way that makes us spring-loaded to fall down in worship the next time we hit a hard wall of trouble.
 
I truly hope your summer is going super-well, that you are super-chill and having a great time. If that’s you, this teaching should not bum you out. It will equip you, though, for that future tough day. And, if you’re in a tough spot right now, well… the relevance to you from God’s Word is obvious.
 
Our God is awesome. Even when it’s tough. Job again: “My ears had heard of you. But now my eyes have seen you” (Job 42:5). He got it. He saw it. He got his question answered.
 
The Word of God will do the same for us this week. Of this, I am sure.
 
Much love to you all… can’t wait to see you… 10:00 Sunday in-person (*Best!!) or online…
 
Chris Eads
Mt. Hope Pastor
Friend