The Pastor’s Piece, Pastor Kevin Cernek, FCFI Chaplain

September 21, 2025

It’s the simple things in life that bring the most satisfaction. I have an older F250 Ford truck with a 7.3 Powerstroke diesel motor. It runs great once you get it started. But it will not start without help if the temperature falls below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. By help I mean you either have to use the glow plugs or plug in the block heater to get it started. Otherwise forget it. Once it gets going though, it’s a workhorse and fun to drive.

I was having some trouble getting the driver’s door to latch. Sometimes I would have to slam it four or five times to get it to catch. The final straw came when I turned a corner and the door flew open and if not for my seatbelt, I would have flown right out and into the dtich. So, I went online to see what I could do to fix it. Turns out, I simply had to remove a little rubber stopper near the top of the door and spray a few squirts (ok a lot of squirts) of penetrating oil in there. That did the trick and it has worked ever since.

I was also having trouble with the tailgate. Like I said, the truck is old (2002) and has been used and abused. Every time I opened the tailgate it would fall off the back of the truck. If I lined up the two ends exactly so I could get it back in place and carefully close it and it would stay. But the second I opened it, I would be picking it up off the ground, not to mention rubbing my shin bones after getting hit on the way down. So, rather than use it, I just kept it closed all the time, but that was a nuisance. It was back-breaking work to lift heavy things up over the side. Finally, one day, I stopped what I was doing and fixed it. I made some adjustments to the hinges, added a few washers and now my tailgate works like it’s supposed to. Those two things have really made my life easier and more enjoyable.

In Psalm 90, verse 15, it says: “Make us glad for as many days as You have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil.” This is a prayer from Moses requesting that God would bring joy and restoration to match the sorrow he and his people have endured. The entire Psalm is a reflection on the fragility of life, the weight of sin, and the harshness of wandering in the wilderness. He had seen loss. He had seen suffering. He had seen an entire generation perish because of disobedience. And yet even in the face of that reality, he asks God for something bold: “Make us glad.”

He’s not asking for shallow happiness. He’s asking for deep, restoring joy – joy that would balance out the pain. He’s asking God to redeem the time. To bring beauty out of ashes.To not let suffering be the final word. This teaches us that it’s okay to grieve what’s been lost, but also to hope for what God can still do. It gives us permission to say: “Lord, it’s been hard. We’ve walked through long nights. But we’re asking You to make us glad again. Let Your grace go as deep as the pain has gone.”

There are two great principles that are at work in human life. Some wonder, is the world getting worse and worse or is it getting better and better?” Well, in the tenth verse of Daniel chapter 12, Daniel is told that in the end times: “ Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked.” Jesus said that the good seed has been sown, but the enemy has come and sown tares among the wheat. “Let both grow together,” He says, “until the harvest,” (Matthew. 13:30). This is certainly true in history. Today good and evil exist side-by-side but neither will overpower the other. Good is not going to become so triumphant that evil finally disappears. Nor is evil going to be so powerful that good disappears. Both are going to come into head-to-head conflict, and the Bible records that at God’s precise moment, God will again intervene in human events. God is sovereign over history and He honors those who live by faith. “For we live by faith, not by sight,” (2 Corinthians 5:7).

Faith is more than belief – it’s trust in action. Faith is trusting God, even when we don’t have the answers. To live by faith means to walk each day in confidence that God is who He says He is, and He will do what He has promised, even when we can’t see the outcome. It’s tempting to base our peace on what we can see: a steady income, good health, or favorable circumstances. But when those things are shaken, our foundation is tested. That’s when living by faith becomes real.

Faith doesn’t ignore reality; it trusts that God’s reality is greater and His promises are still true, even in the storm and His presence is still near, even when we feel alone. Living by faith means choosing to believe that God is working, even when we can’t see it. Faith grows in small, daily choices. Lord, teach me to walk by faith. When I can’t see the way, help me trust that You are guiding every step. Amen.

(Kevin Cernek is Lead Pastor of Martintown Community Church in Martintown, Wisconsin).