Hello all! For this post, we are going to go in a bit of a different direction to what we have been doing, by republishing a short article written by one of our members, Evelyn Rodgers. She sent me a copy of it yesterday, and I think it will be a good read for all of us now.

This article is entitled “Growing Deeper in Our Faith” and it talks about how in our lives there will be times when we feel like we are on mountaintops, just as there will be times when we feel like we are in the deepest of valleys. This is a sentiment I think many of us can relate to just now. Evelyn has been a member with MacGregor EMC, for far longer than I have been the pastor here. And over the years she has certainly had her share of mountains and valleys. Several of those will be brought up in the article below.

And finally, following Evelyn’s article, you will be able to find our second MacGregor EMC Town of MacGregor Prayer Walk Map. I hope that will serve us all well, also.

I hope you enjoy.

Growing Deeper in Our Faith by Evelyn Rodgers

(Republished with editing, with author’s permission. Original article’s details unknown.)

We all love the mountaintop experiences in our lives. The ones where we see God at work and life is at its best. But the reality of living is that there will be valleys of trials and temptations where our faith is put to the test. And that is alright. We need to experience both, the mountains and the valleys, to grow in our faith. Without the valleys, the mountaintops wouldn’t be so beautiful. And without the mountaintops, the valley’s would overwhelm us. This is the way to a deeper walk with the Lord.

Mountaintops are breathtaking, giving us an awesome view for miles around. You’re on top of the world. But could you live there all the time? There are drawbacks that we begin to see after a while. We get used to the view and start to look around at the stones instead. We begin to complain about the shortages we perceive ourselves to have. We come to forget what it took to climb the mountain in the first place, overestimating the role we played compared with the help we received along the way.

Valleys, on the other hand, are in almost every way different. Filled with abundant vegetation. Many look so very green… but there are also problems that go along with living here. In the valley’s the weeds grow rampant, there are crowded streets and the messiness that people can bring and there is real back-breaking labour. In the valley is where what we like to pessimistically think of as “real life” happens; where we struggle with work and relationships. If the entirety of our live’s are made of times like these, we risk being bogged down and overwhelmed in the mire of it all.

In our Christian life, when God blesses us and everything goes well, we can rejoice and praise the Lord. We are up on the mountaintop, after all! But the time will come when we need to come down. It must always happen because it is in the valley where it is the easiest to see God at work. It is in the valley where our lives and faith will grow the fastest. In that fertile soil. We need the winds of adversity and the trials of life to make us strong, to deepen our faith and our relationship with God, to say nothing of one another.

If we choose to fight the descent and stay only with our heads in the clouds, it will not be long until we find even the tallest mountain tops aren’t high enough for us. Our faith is not growing on the peaks as we are not needing to work to strengthen it. We will come to think in an elevated way of ourselves. We will forget that it was God who helped us scale the mountain in the first place and we will instead come to assume we are there purely on our own merit. There is a reason why in Deuteronomy 8, God warns his people not to forget Him when all is going well. There is a reason that they crash as hard as they do time and again through scripture when they do not heed this advice.

Another analogy that comes to mind is that of a tree. A tree growing in too sheltered an area doesn’t have a deep root system. If such a tree is exposed to a wind storm, it will fall. Compare this to a tree out in the open field. This second kind of tree will develop deep roots as it is battered by the wind and because of just this, it will be able to stand up to many a storm. So we should ask ourselves, “do our lives have a deep-rooted faith or will we succumb to the winds of adversity?”

This is why the Bible speaks often of trials. In James 1:2-4 it says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking in anything.” These are not words we like to hear but are what we need to listen to if we want to be like that second kind of tree.

For people in general, but especially us comfortable Canadians, I think it is fair to say that we want to live trial free lives of luxury and leisure. We want to live in the mindset that, ‘I always have a vacation coming my way and the world owes me everything.’ And because we live in this mindset, our faith changes accordingly. We tend to use prayer like a magic formula to have a trouble-free and happy life. When we have a problem we pray and expect to the point that it may as well be demanding, that we receive a happy ending, a good solution, to our problem.

But when we stay in this mindset too long, and then unexpectedly we find ourselves not able to get what we want, we all too easily can mistake inconvenience for abandonment. We assume God has forgotten us, not because He has, but because we came to expect the purpose of our faith was nothing more than to serve us to our benefit. Our roots grew to be so shallow, that they might as well have been resting on the surface.

But what if instead of seeing the world and God like this, we choose from today on to take the words of James to heart? Instead of trying to avoid adversity at all costs, we work with God to instill in ourselves a delight for it, seeing it for what it is: a way to sand off some of the rougher edges of our character. As a way to grow who we are. As a way to grow our faith. As a way to grow our appreciation for the world and the other people in it.

Many things happen in our lives that we don’t have answers to. We cant see the picture from God’s perspective, after all. In my own life, I ask myself, ‘why did my brother Larry, who believed in God’s ability to heal so strongly, die?’ It was hard for me to accept that for Larry, the Lord chose to take him home to heal him. But by heeding the words of James, at least through this lowest of valleys, I could find myself clinging to the fact that my faith grew through this trial. Though I miss my brother, at least through this, my faith grew because I could see God at work in that way.

In my life, there have been numerous mountaintop experiences. Times where God’s presence was so real and so precious to me that I will hold their memory close forever. Answers to prayers that were so wonderful that looking back I can see the hand of God working plainly in my life. But also in my time, there have been the valleys as well. A whole variety of trials and testings that I have passed through; from living with my mother-in-law to dealing with death and sickness to raising five children. All these testings have been used by the Lord to take off rough edges and build character. Yes, these times were not always pleasant, but through them, God was still at work, and I could see my relationship with Him grow.

In our lives, we will all face the good times, but also the challenges as well. The mountains and the valleys. And so what I want to leave you with is this. Our mindset in how we deal with the ups and downs will either make us better people, or bitter people. Living an entire life trying to stay on top of a mountain is a terrible idea if you want to grow either strong in your faith or as a person. While it is hard for us to see, be assured that even when we are in the valley, God is still there and he is up to something. So take the words of James to heart. Learn to delight in the trials that come your way. If you can learn to do this, then even when times are at their worst, at the absolute least, you will always find comfort in the fact that you can still, with God’s help, grow in your faith, as well as your character.

I know God isn’t finished with me yet. And I am delighted that he is preparing me for eternity.

Prayer Walk #2

While it may not look it today, for the rest of the week the temperature is supposed to be in the double digits with intermittent sun! And so I thought it high time to put out the second MacGregor EMC prayer walk route.

This map has the route I want everyone to the best of their ability to take. If at any point you find the walk to be too much (it is the better part of a mile, if not over), feel free to take your vehicle. And it should, of course go without saying, make sure to keep in mind proper social distancing procedure.

This route will take you right through the main drag of the town. Past housing, a funeral home, other businesses, churches, and the municipal offices and buildings. I ask you to pray for each peace, healing where needed, wisdom, strength, provision through this tough time, and most of all that God will make himself seen obviously over the months to come to those on this street. That God’s Kingdom will be built in MacGregor like it never has been before.

Also, as a final instruction, I would ask that with you on your walk, you bring something. A garbage bag. As the snow has now melted, a winter’s worth of garbage is now beginning to make itself seen. MacGregor is a town well worth caring for and undoubtedly that should include its spring beautification. As is always the case when dealing with trash, make sure to be safe as well.

Hope to see you out there!