May 01, 2021 | Letters from the Lead Pastor by Brandon Lenhart
Have you ever lost something significant like a family heirloom, your phone, a ring, or piece of jewelry? There is usually a sense of anxiety, and maybe even desperation when this happens. We go on a frantic search and retrace our steps to try and find what we’ve lost. Finding what we’ve lost can consume us and cause us great distress.
Several years ago, when our youngest child was 2-years-old, we lived out in the country in Fenelton on about 9 acres of land surrounded by beautiful rolling hills next to 422. It was the Thursday before Easter of that year and I was at the office getting ready for the business of the weekend ahead when I received a frantic call from my wife. Raelyn was missing! Needless to say, I didn’t waste any time getting home to help find her, speeding as fast as I could to get there. By the time I arrived, there were three police cars in the driveway, and our search to find our lost daughter ensued. Oh, the desperation, the fear, the pain of loss was palpable and consuming. After about 45-minutes of searching in the creek-bed down below the house, in culverts around the local streets, over embankments, in ditches, we were nearly hopeless. And then. Going once more through the neighbor’s yard and looking in the bushes around the house, my wife saw her through the back door of the neighbors home playing with their dog. We finally could rest at ease and peace because what was once lost was now found.
This month, we will be exploring the loss of peace as we continue to navigate through the Old Testament.
The nation that had once been God’s representative people (Israel), had so rejected Him, that they came under His judgment and punishment and lost their homes and land as a result of their rebellion. Now living as exiles in a foreign land, the Jewish people must take stock of what they once had, and all that they have lost, and come to grips with that loss in a way that they weren’t consumed by it, but rather transformed by it for the better.
As exiles, the Jewish people learned that true peace isn’t a result of pursuing what they desire, but in surrendering to God’s desires for them. As a result, the remnant learned to trust in God again. They learned that God would ultimately hold good to His promise to send a Savior/Messiah who came to set them free and restore more than land and property, He would restore them to life.
If you’ve lost peace in life, lean into God, and trust Him completely. Peace can be restored, and your life can be lived in hope!
