God’s Gracious Favor

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From the desk of Rod Fletcher, Headmaster:

2 Corinthians 1: 3-7 and 9b-11:  

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.  If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.  And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.”

“But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.  He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.”

Today is an important day in the life of our Brook Hill family.  It is a day where we will stop to remember a very tragic event in the life of our school – the passing of Pasha Zapolskyy and Dana Regester.  It is a day where we remember the outpouring of love and prayers from within our Brook Hill family as well as our East Texas community.  It is a day where we give thanks to God for the gracious favor He has granted to us in answer to those prayers.

I have often heard people express that they sense something special, a “presence” they feel, on the Brook Hill campus.  And I once heard one of the school’s founding members refer to this special presence as “God’s favor.”  I couldn’t agree more.  I sense it every day as I drive through the front gates.  His favor does not negate suffering within our Brook Hill family, but His favor does offer comfort and hope in the face of suffering.

The passage in 2 Corinthians is one I want to share with each of you as you pause today in remembrance.  Together as The Brook Hill School family, may we praise God, the “Father of compassion” and the “God of all comfort.”  May we “not rely on ourselves but on God” and set our hope in Him.  And as we continue to pray for our school, may we “give thanks for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.”

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