What Is God up To?
Posted on Feb 06, 2023 by Jon Brudvig
One day a pilot returned his plane to the mechanic’s shop with the complaint, “Unfamiliar noise.” Remarkably, the plane was back in service the very next day. The pilot, eager to find out what caused the problem, checked the logbook to see what the mechanic had discovered. The entry noted, “Ran engine continuously for four hours. Noise is now familiar.”
The story raises important questions for us, too. What “familiar noise” is quietly dulling your ideas, vision, and excitement of what God is up to?
In your own life?
In our life together in community?
When we find ourselves being moved outside of our comfort zones, especially by forces beyond our immediate control, it is only natural to long for the comfortable and the familiar. In the process, we may find that the soothing sound of “familiar noise” drowns out the call that Jesus extends to disciples of every time and place, the invitation to “Come, follow me.”
Resistance to change is a biological response that is programmed into our DNA. Simply put, it is the way we human beings are wired. And if truth be told, when circumstances generate uncertainty, we may also create roadblocks in an effort to control or redirect the change process.
As we move forward into the future that God is calling us into as the people of Salem Lutheran Church, may we, like the psalmist before us, pray (and then trust) that God will guide us, teach us, and lead us (Psalm 25) as we boldly and faithfully walk the path that the Lord has set out for us to follow.
And along the way, may the renewing and life-giving activity of the Holy Spirit challenge our indifference, enlighten and broaden our understanding of what it means to be the church together, and help move us from complacency to action.
“For your word is a lamp to my feet and a light on my path” (Psalm 119:105).
In Christ’s Peace,
Pastor Jon