From the Pastor
Beloved,
From time to time, people ask me, "Who is your favorite person in the Bible?" I suppose they are
really asking which biblical character I relate to the most.
Since the rise of social media, we have been able to glimpse into the lives of countless people. In many ways, this has been a gift. It allows us to stay connected and learn from people we might never have met otherwise. Yet it also carries a hidden danger. Like every powerful tool, it has its side effects. We often become spectators instead of companions, and we begin to compare our ordinary lives with the carefully edited highlights of others. Social media tends to celebrate success while quietly hiding struggle, weakness, and failure.
The Bible tells a very different story.
From a twenty-first-century perspective, Scripture is surprisingly filled with ordinary people rather than heroes. The Apostle Paul reminds us: "God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world... so that no one might boast before God." (1 Corinthians 1:27–29).
Think about the people we meet in Scripture. Abraham, the father of faith, was simply an elderly man when God called him. We know the names of the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, who feared God and courageously protected newborn boys, yet the Pharaoh they defied remains unnamed in the biblical story. Even in the opening chapter of Matthew, Jesus' family tree includes people we know very little about and women such as Rahab and Ruth, whose lives were marked by humility and hardship. God delights in weaving ordinary lives into God's extraordinary story.
When I return to the question of my favorite biblical figures, I often think not first of David, Moses, or the disciples, but of Simeon and Anna. They spent their lives faithfully waiting for the Messiah. Day after day, year after year, they lived quiet, ordinary lives devoted to God. They were not seeking fame or recognition. They simply desired to draw closer to God and be ready when Christ appeared. And because of their faithful ordinary lives, they became part of God's extraordinary salvation story.
The same is true for us.
As God's beloved children, we are already deeply loved, not because we are exceptional, but because we belong to God. Life continues to bring storms, disappointments, and uncertainty. Yet we are never asked to face those waves alone. Christ takes us by the hand and walks with us through them. What others may see as extraordinary courage, hope, or compassion is not the result of our own strength. It is the work of God's grace within ordinary people.
If there is anything remarkable about our lives, it is that God has been with us every step of the way. When we rise after falling, find joy in seasons of sorrow, or stand beside neighbors who suffer injustice, it is because God has transformed our weakness with divine strength and our limited wisdom with God's own wisdom.
As we continue our journey together as the Oakdale community, sharing our gifts, our time, and our love, I believe God is writing another beautiful chapter of that same biblical story. We may seem like ordinary people, but in God's hands, ordinary lives become extraordinary instruments of grace. May we continue to walk faithfully together, trusting that God will accomplish far more through us than we could ever imagine.
Peace and Blessings,
Pastor Cindie