Vicar's Message

Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled?

 I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise Him,

 My Savior and my God. Psalms 42: 5

I remember once reading “Today, people have more but enjoy less.” Even though God has greatly blessed us,

many of us still lack the ability to enjoy one of God's greatest gifts: LIFE. We spend most of our time feeling sad, troubled, or depressed. We spend too much time thinking about negative things that happened years ago. The person who wrote Psalms 42 experienced a great deal of pain and suffering. This person was in exile and bearing the insults of those around him. This person even asks God, “Why have you forgotten me?” (Verse 9). But it is hope that keeps this person going. In verse six, it is written, “Here in exile my heart is breaking, and so I turn my thought to Him.” In the midst of the pain and suffering, this person focuses his thoughts and hopes on God. Perhaps, he remembers the stories told to him by his parents and grandparents of their great and powerful God. Or perhaps, he thinks of all the times in the past that God has helped him. He realizes that God is his Savior and that God will give what is needed to overcome the pain and the depression. It is this faith that gives the person joy. Because only a joyful person can truly praise God. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ: I realize that many of us are bound not physically but mentally and emotionally. We spend too much time focusing on the negative things that have happened to us. There is a passage from Phil 3:13-14 that reads “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Let us pray to God that He gives us the ability to overcome the negative things that we have experienced in the past. That we can forgive those who have wronged us. That we can overcome the sadness and depression

that we are facing and enjoy all of God’s gifts, especially one of His greatest gifts, LIFE, and boldly we press

toward the future in Jesus. Then all of us can truly praise God.

Yours in Christ’s Service

Rev. Shibi Abraham