Romans 15:4

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope ~ Romans 15:4

We live in a world that now wants to either forget the past, or change the past by changing names of schools, or by tearing down statues. The past was bad, the past has to go! End of sentence. When we forget the past, we do not learn from it. God instead encourages us to learn from the past. I love history. Especially our family tree history. I learn a great deal sometimes from the past of my ancestors. Recently my one sister uncovered a history book in the Simcoe library. In it were pictures of my Grandma Howard’s home before she and my Grandpa moved into it. We discovered their home had been built in 1864 and it stood until about two years ago when it was torn down to make way for a modern home. We also discovered that my great-grandfather was also a preacher. Not ordained, but a preacher. We knew way back that Jabez Culver, our relative was an ordained preacher, but this news about our great-grandfather was an enlightenment. We realized how extra blessed our family line was by God. It was encouraging for us. If we cannot look to our past and learn, how can we expect to look to the scriptures for hope? The words therein are filled with stories of real people who worked, who suffered, who fought the fight of faith and won, or lost, as the world would see their death in Christ. Even the sad and bad stories of the Bible, and of our life, can and will make our future better when we make them learning experiences. The Scripture above reminds us of endurance taught by reading the stories, which leads to hope. Those who have suffered greatly in their experiences are capable of great encouragement to others in the same struggles, or similar ones. We encourage others through our stories of life. The Bible encourages us in our faith to hold on to hope.  

Pastor Julia