Trouble will come

The next few verses in Matthew 10 are harsh but still true. They are not verses that you find on a recruitment poster.

“21 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 23 When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

24 “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!

26 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.[b] 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”

God is not taken by surprise when bad stuff happens. It will happen. Even in families.

My great grandfather helped build the Lutheran church and parsonage in Cashmere. My dad was confirmed there and mom and dad were married there, I was sprinkled there in christening. I left that denomination and became a member of a radical Pentecostal denomination that was started by a woman. (The international church of the 4-square Gospel) I am still there. Thirty three years later, Mary and I are still there.

My father was deeply wounded when I took my family away. Now my kids are finding their own way in the world. They are all still believers but are finding places that can fit in and that fits them.

We are not fighting each other, not betraying unto death but there is some shifting and moving and it hurts and it’s scary but God knows. God loves my kids more than I do, more than their mom does.

My hair is numbered, I am worth more than sparrows and my Father God is not taken by surprise by changes in my life. He knows, he cares.

God loves us.