Devotion

Think about an old-school set of scales. Shopkeepers used to put the item they were selling on one side, and then use different weights to make it level to determine how much the item weighed. Now let’s apply this concept to our lives. Quite often, we feel weighed down by the trouble of what’s happening in our lives. Unfair circumstances, bad ‘luck’, and rubbish days that we just struggle through. When we stack them all up, then the side of the scale that represents the troubles in our lives plummets. But God’s response to this seemingly lop-sided, unbalanced scale isn’t what we expect. 

As C.S. Lewis explains, “The settled happiness and security which we all desire, God withholds from us by the very nature of the world: but joy, pleasure, and merriment, He has scattered broadcast. We are never safe, but we have plenty of fun and some ecstasy. It is not hard to see why. The security we crave would teach us to rest our hearts in this world and be an obstacle to our return to God: a few moments of love, a landscape, a symphony, a merry meeting with our friends, a bathe or a football match, have no such tendency. Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home.”

So God doesn’t always take the troubles away entirely. Instead, He offsets them. He places the eternal weight of glory on the other side of the scales which promises to bring us endless joy and immeasurable peace in eternity with Him. And that tips the scales dramatically. The heavy troubles are lifted when weighed against Jesus’ promise of eternity. 

As 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (TPT) says, “We view our slight, short-lived troubles in the light of eternity. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Dear God, thank you for granting us grace and mercy through Jesus. Thank you that you tip the scales in our lives when we are weighed down with troubles. Please help us to see our slight, short-lived troubles in the light of eternity. We ask for your continued guidance and strength through all the joys and troubles we face. Amen

Seasons for Growth

Change and loss are issues that affect all of us at some stage in our lives, and grief is a normal response to these losses. We recognise that when changes occur in families through death, separation, moving home, or other circumstances, young people will benefit from opportunities that help them process these changes. 

GGLPS offers a program called Seasons for Growth. This program is facilitated in small groups and is based on research that highlights the importance of social support and the need to practise new skills to cope effectively with change and loss. Its emphasis is on understanding the effects of change, loss, and grief, whilst developing skills in communication, decision making, and problem-solving.

Seasons for Growth runs for eight weeks, with each weekly session running for 45 minutes. It will commence on Monday, Week 9 (September 13), running over eight sessions into Term 4. Please email Jason Kupke (Kupke.Jason@goldengrove.sa.edu.au) to register your interest.