Beyond Sunday: Thrive ...a little help?

...by Jeff Sanford

It wasn’t all that long ago that I found myself in the midst of one of the most troubling times of my life. Although I grew up in the church, I wasn’t attending a church and didn’t really see the need to because church always seemed so irrelevant and boring to me. I wasn’t angry or disappointed with God, simply disinterested.

But life changed dramatically for me when, through a series poor decisions, I found myself in the midst of a situation that was just overwhelming. The consequences of some of my decisions had me filled with uncertainty and left me wondering how or if I would ever be able to make right this life that had gotten so far off track. The mountain that stood before me was large and was not going away, and I was left cowering.

But that’s right where God intervened. Through the suggestion of a friend, God led me to this church that was meeting at Lake Central High School. I have to admit that I had no interest in attending, but when you’re at the end of your rope and you need help badly enough, you’ll turn to anyone. So that’s what I did. And that is exactly where God and His amazing grace met me.

God has used many people at Suncrest as agents of change in my life over the past eight or so years. And now, I look back on that critical period of my life and see that I too echoed the words of David in Psalm 121:

I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

I can now thank God that I know where my help came from:

My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

And the most remarkable thing to me about that time was that, as Greg stated in his message, it didn’t matter whether I had been faithful to God or turned my back on Him, He was still there pursuing me. And when you’re in that situation and you feel the presence and peace of a loving God, how can you respond but to thank and worship the one who was and is with you through it all.

And so the challenge for me today is to be someone that God uses in the midst of another’s storm. To administer grace, to be a part of a community that listens for and responds to the cries of those who are struggling, and to help carry their burdens.