July 15, 2026
Happy Wednesday friends,
While summer in Montana is our prime season for outdoor recreation and projects, it can also be a unique window for us to do some deep work in the scriptures. Last Sunday we started our “Core Faith” four-week worship series focused on the influential words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 8. Paul gets incredibly personal about the frustrating gap between his best intentions and his actual behavior.
Trying to live a faithful life purely on our own willpower is a lot like rowing a drift boat straight down the Flathead River toward a nasty log jam. In your mind, you know exactly where the safe channel is, and you pull on the oars with every ounce of strength you have. Yet, the powerful, underlying current of the river sweeps you sideways anyway, drifting you toward the exact hazard you are desperately trying to avoid.
We often think that if we just try harder or dig deeper, we can break free from our struggles by our own power. But Paul reminds us that human willpower is not enough. True hope doesn’t come from exhausting ourselves at the oars; it comes when we allow Jesus to step into our boat, change the nature of the waters, and hand us over to the life-giving current of the Holy Spirit.
Where in your life right now are you exhausting yourself trying to “row harder” against a habit, a worry, or a conflict instead of surrendering the oars to Christ? May God speak to you and renew your dependence on Christ as you reflect on these words this week.
Blessings,
Pastor Jared