I read a brief note from a pastor in South Carolina that I follow… It went something like this - ​

For those reading this that may not go to CommUNITY Church, I want to let you know that if you’re searching for a church, this pretty much sums us up.  We have white collars and blue collars.  We have suit-jackets and t-shirts.  We have clear skin and tattoos.  We have dresses and shorts.  We have folks who enjoy a beer every now and then, and we have people who are recovering alcoholics.  We have people at CommUNITY who are addicted to food, sex, work, money, drugs, alcohol, their own success, their children’s success, or any other myriad of possibilities.  We have hard workers and lazy people.  We have married couples, single people, and people questioning their sexuality.  We have parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and lots of children.  We have two-parent homes, single-parent homes, and no-parent homes… We have marriages in trouble, and marriages being healed.  In fact, there’s not much we don’t have...

We’ve been judged before.  It hurts.  We don’t want that for others, so we do our best to try NOT to judge you because we’re all messed up and we all sin.

Here’s what we don’t have - we don’t have ANY perfect people.  But we follow the only Guy Who was perfect.  His name’s Jesus.  He’s cool.  We’d like to introduce you to Him.

Come on in.

For those who attend CommUNITY Church regularly, read this entire blog again.  Remember where you came from.  Remember what Jesus is saving you from, what He’s saving you to, and what He’s saving you for…

Our best is yet to come.

​Then you (actually, it would be “we”) expect God to answer right away - kind of like a text message you send, and you're staring at your phone waiting on an immediate response.  When that response doesn’t come right away, you get frustrated and plead more with God to answer you; to guide you; to direct you.  You want SO BADLY to hear His Words, His response to you, His guidance of you, and His love and grace for you!!!

Then… you have a thought.  Maybe it’s from a godly counselor who tells you this, or it’s a Spirit-led thought that comes to you just before you’re ready to snap…  and that thought looks something like the below picture.

​Ouch.

That bonded-leather bound book that’s collecting more dust than fingerprints is what you’re presented with.  And that’s the correct answer.

SO OFTEN, we want a NEW word from God when we haven’t spent time listening to what He’s already told us.  We haven’t dug deep and searched the Scriptures to see what’s in there that applies to us on a regular basis.

The bottom line is that we don’t want to look for the answer.  In this commercial-driven society, we want it our way, right away.  We don’t want to have to look for it, to earn it, to read it… we want our needs met by an easy answer.

Yet, God already answered us, and often times, we ignore what He said… 

As a parent, I hear the same question worded ten different ways in hopes one of my kids will be able to get a different answer out of me… but I do my best to keep with the original answer.

So does God.  He’s given us the answers to our questions.  The answers that will calm our fears, reduce our anxiety, and relieve our over-charged minds from all the “what if’s” that we may be facing.  But we need to actually take time to listen to His answers.  There’s a peace that’s found when doing so.

Take some time and dig in.  Start reading and studying the book of Philippians… then move to the Gospel of John.  See how God answers you.