Beyond the Problem

By Pastor Sunny

I said a prayer of thanks before I drove home.

In 2010, the stress of my job eventually became too much for my body. I thought I was managing the conflicts and pressures fairly well, but my body told me otherwise. After a visit to the emergency room and appointments with several specialists, I finally accepted the doctors’ advice and went on temporary disability.

Then, completely out of the blue, in October 2013, I received a letter from the disability insurance company informing me that my coverage would be terminated at the end of the month.

I appealed the decision. My appeals were denied. Suddenly, I was facing a future I had not planned for.

I met with the presbytery executive to let her know about the change in my disability status and to tell her that I would begin looking for a pastoral position. She listened to me and then said that, right after meeting with me, she would be meeting with the search committee of a church that was looking for a transitional pastor. I was stunned.

As I drove home, I realized that I was experiencing an incredible sense of relief. And that surprised me. I had not realized how deeply I had been worried about what would happen next.

The letter I received had told me that something was ending. But God was already preparing something new. I started my new position the day after my disability coverage ended. Looking back, I can see something I could not see at the time. While I was focused on the problem, God was already working beyond the problem.

In Exodus 17, the Israelites found themselves in the wilderness, worried about their future. Moses had led them out of slavery in Egypt. God has been providing Manna every morning, but now they were thirsty. And in their thirst, they forgot what God had already done for them. They complained to Moses, asking, “Why did God bring us out of Egypt only to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?”

God told Moses to strike the rock, and water flowed from it. The Israelites were looking at a dry wilderness. God was looking at a place where water was about to flow.

I think we sometimes do the same thing. When something goes wrong, we immediately focus on what we have lost. We see the closed door. We see the unanswered question. We see the problem in front of us. And because we cannot see what comes next, we assume that God has forgotten us. 

When I received that letter from the insurance company, all I could think about was the monthly benefits I was losing. I did not see what God was preparing. I did not know that the new church would be only three miles from my home and would be exactly the kind of position I needed as I returned to ministry after disability. 

But God knew. 

Perhaps that is the invitation of Exodus 17. When we face a problem, may we look beyond it. May we remember that God already has a solution. May we trust that the God who provided yesterday will still provide tomorrow. 

Let us open ourselves to the ways God is already providing for us.

Pastor Sunny