Tetelestai

So today was the big day….the day we’ve all been waiting for to see the total eclipse…..well almost total.  We live about 20 miles south of the totality zone.  I’ll take 98% though.  The boys school was out today so everyone could take part and I took off work to hang out with them.  The schools had given them glasses, and my wife went and got me a pair at the only place that was still selling them…..the liquor store.  I guess it’s important to not go blind during your eclipse party.

We started off the day with some Waffle House and headed to get haircuts.  As the day went on, the clouds began to roll in. I was pretty sure this once in a long time event was going to be a bust.  I prayed and prayed and prayed, a little for the boys, but I really wanted to see this.  They really just cared about seeing Netflix.  I’m not naïve enough to believe that my prayers were answered, but at the last-minute the most amazing thing happened….

The clouds broke and we saw the eclipse at its peak…….and as we were watching it began to drizzle……and if you have read any of my previous posts you know what the rain means to me.  Then we got to watch as the moon moved away from the sun.  My youngest was pretty excited…..my oldest, well he found a snail and was using mommy’s Tupperware to try to build it a home.  But he did watch it for a minute, and he thought it was cool too.  So in the end, it was a very successful eclipse party of our own.  We got to see something very rare, and I got to experience this with my boys….so the memory of the eclipse may last awhile, but our memories will last a lifetime.  I remember way back to when I was about my youngest child’s age when I watched an eclipse in my grandmother’s back yard….and we made one of those box things to watch it.

The most important thing I learned in preparation for the eclipse was to wear the proper glasses.  Staring at the sun is no good for anyone….including our pets according to Facebook.  And when it comes to our lives, and our relationship with God, Jesus Christ is essentially our pair of eclipse glasses.  He died on the cross to wash away our sins.  He is the ultimate pair of eclipse glasses between us and God.  Through Jesus’s protection, God sees us as pure.  “But if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His son cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7.)”

That’s not to say we can go about committing sins and acts of evil and Jesus will just filter that all out, but if we repent of our sins, His Grace will provide that protection.  “And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.  To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood – and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father – to Him be the glory and dominion forever and ever (Revelation 1:5.)”  So the blood of Jesus…..the blood He shed on the cross….that same blood is the ultimate lens.

So through our fancy cardboard solar eclipse lenses we watched the moon pass in front of the sun without going blind…..and the blood of Jesus Christ filters out our inequities as God looks down on us.

So on this day when we got to watch something that only happens once every so often, I pray for each and every one of you who hasn’t found the love of Christ…..who hasn’t accepted Him as your Lord and Savior.  The awesome thing about a relationship with Jesus is you don’t have to wait for a specific time in history, a specific afternoon…..to get a day off from school or a day off from work.  You can pray to Him right now.  So I pray that you find Jesus….and that He will be your ultimate solar eclipse glasses that will allow God to see you are the pure being that you are meant to be.

 

Last night I was talking to my mom on the phone about the events of the last few weeks.  I told her how I thought we were in the right place with our new house, the listing of our current house…..with the boys new school and the issues that had come up surrounding that.  I told her I felt like God was the center of everything, but that I continue to pray that if I try to do things my way that He will knock me down, because I only want to do things through Him.

The conversation kinda veered off from there to certain stories I’ve been reading in the Bible, and what it would have been like to be in these situations.  It was kind of like playing pretend.  I couldn’t possibly imagine what it was like for Elisha to just burn his cart and run off with some old prophet he never knew.  I couldn’t possibly imagine what it was like to be fishing one day and to just drop your nets and follow someone named Jesus who said, “Follow me.”  I couldn’t imagine what it would have been like to be on a fishing boat in the middle of a storm when Jesus wakes up and says, “SShhhh,” and the storm calmed down…..or when He was in the middle of the lake and told Peter to just hop over the side and join Him out there.

What was it that told these men to just go….to just drop everything….to just obey….to just do it?  When I got off the phone I recapped the conversation to my wife…..and this was the first thing she said…….”You can never say the wrong thing, to the wrong person, at the right time.”  MIND BLOWN!!!!  I don’t have any idea where that came from (but I’m pretty sure I should know and I will get in trouble later for not paying attention to her.)

So the way I feel about our whole move, and the school…..I am certain now that’s the way Elisha felt, that’s the way Matthew felt when Jesus called him.  “As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He said to him, Follow Me! And he got up and followed him (Matthew 9:9.)”  I’m sure that’s the way Peter felt, “Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea;  for they were fishermen.  And He said to them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.  Immediately they left their nets and followed Him (Matthew 4: 18-19.)”

For all we know all of these men could have felt just like me….that they were in the middle of something but God had their backs….they knew they were on the right path, just waiting for something big to happen at the right time.  For all we know God told Peter and Andrew, one day, to just go fish and one day something big would happen.  For all we know when Jesus showed up on that shore that day, Peter and Andrew responded with a resounding, “God said you would be here one day…..we’ve been here fishing for years waiting for you to show up.”

So I believe more than ever that we are all in the right spot….the right time….the exact place we are supposed to be in.  Not necessarily the place where our “Big thing” is going to happen, but in our place of preparation…..our place of learning…..our place of faith.  And while we wait around patiently, know that Everything that is happening to you right now is in preparation for things that are to come.

But be careful when you are in this waiting place…..for in these times, it is still about doing what God wants….I know its hard to be patient, but there is a plan.  We went to our church this morning and then I came home and watched Pastor Furtick talk about David in 1 Samuel.  He spoke of a time when Saul was in a cave and David snuck up behind him and cut off a piece of his robe, when he could have killed him, to signify his taking over the Kingdom.  Shortly afterward, David struggled with his conscience.  “David’s conscious bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul’s robe.  So he said to his men, Far be it from me because of the Lord that I should do this thing to my lord,  the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.  David persuaded his men with these words and did not allow them to rise against Saul  (1 Samuel 24:5-7.)”

You see, David knew his time was coming when he would be king…..and Elisha, Peter, Andrew, James, John….they all knew their time was coming when they would be able to fulfill their destiny….and I know my time is coming when I will step into mine.  But in the meantime we must wait…..we must learn….we must pray…..we must study the word of God.  We must listen and we must obey.  WE MUST NOT GO IT ALONE!!!!

I pray that we can all remain patient, and all know our time is coming.  I pray that we can wrap our minds around the fact that we are special too….just like Elisha and Peter.  That we all have a destiny to fulfill that God has placed in front of us.

I look back at my life and remember how many times I had to start new schools…..how many times I had to make new friends all over again.  My parents worked for the government, and like the military, they moved a lot.  (Now mother, before you start getting upset about thinking how traumatized of a life I had, look at where all of these schools eventually lead me.  If we wouldn’t have ended up at Northwest Rankin High School, I wouldn’t have ended up watching a baseball game in Columbus, Ohio…..and we are know what that lead to.)

With that being said, the boys started their first day at their new school today.  We found out officially about 4:30 yesterday afternoon that they were enrolled…..so last night was once again pretty hectic….trying to get last-minute school supplies and the new school uniforms that they would need for today.  As they went to bed, my oldest son was pretty excited, but nervous….and the younger, more dramatic child was terrified.

Fast forward to this afternoon when mommy picked them up……the youngest said it was the best school ever….the oldest, well he still isn’t so sure.  I will tell you that mommy is pretty excited about the way they have car line down to a science….its like a well oiled machine, well somewhat oiled since it is just the first day.

But whether it is a new school, a new job, a new church….or even a new gym, we all get nervous when its time to go somewhere for the first time.  It’s really easy to say, don’t worry about it….just go….have fun….meet new people, make new friends.  But when you are in that situation it always seems way harder that it really is.

Jesus said, “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink;  nor for your body, as to what you will put on.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing.  And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?  So do not worry about tomorrow;  for tomorrow will care for itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:25, 27, 34.)”

(As I’m writing this my oldest is reading over my shoulder, and I had him read that last verse especially……because that last verse….those short 20 words can change your life.)

I know people who worry and stress about everything…..I mean everything.  Life is too short to spend it worrying all the time.  We can’t control everything….in fact I think I’ve said this here before….we really don’t control anything when we think about it.  But I guess it’s the semblance of control, or lack their of, that gives us that peace and comfort that we so desire.

I find my comfort these days in Jesus Christ…..and I’m proud to say that.  For so long I didn’t distance myself, but never had the relationship that I should have had.  Like the Psalms says, “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble (Psalms 46:1.)”

So as I send my oldest off to bed, I think, I could be wrong, but I think he is ready for tomorrow.  For you can never have a first day of school again…..because tomorrow will be the second…so we move forward and grow.  And the next day will be the third so we gain a little more strength so we can make it to the next….when our confidence begins to grow.  It’s a process, like anything else….and I know my boys will do fine.

I pray that you can all find the peace and comfort you are looking for as you start a new beginning….or even just a new day.  I pray that we turn towards God for strength, and not within ourselves.  He is here for us….I pray we don’t ignore Him when we need Him the most.

It’s been way too long since I last wrote….but believe me, it’s not because I have had nothing to say.  These last few weeks have been hectic to say the least.  God has been moving in our lives, and at a breakneck pace.  I knew I had to get back on here, make the time…..when I received my second phone call in as many days wondering where I had gone and if everything was okay.  I was told by one of these callers that I had to make the time….I had to get my thoughts out there…..because even 5 words may be the 5 words that someone may need.

So here goes…..

School is starting back up next week….and with that being said, we haven’t been very happy lately with our children’s school.  My wife had begun to have the itch for a change….and unbeknownst to me, she had been doing her research.  The Saturday before last she set up an appointment in a new housing development in the school system she wanted to enroll our children.  We didn’t really see anything we were interested in, but on the way home I pulled into another neighborhood…..one we hadn’t planned on looking at.  We parked at the model, walked inside and ran into a real estate agent that we had talked to 5 years ago when we moved to Beaufort.  At the time, he didn’t impress us much, but on this day…..in this place…..he was just what we were looking for.

He was extremely busy, but we set up an appointment to come back the next day.  Oh yeah, that would have been on a Sunday…..a Sunday that we had planned on attending Elevation Church in Charlotte….only to not have room at the “lodge” for our puppies to stay that weekend.  Long story short, the next day we signed a contract on a new house…..new as in the permits haven’t even been finalized yet….all that is there is a new road…..Horizon Trail (How about that name for a leap of faith.)

So now a week later…..after much thought and prayer….our house goes on the market tomorrow.  The last week has been insane, but this house is clean, clutter-free, and ready for the next homeowner.  Oh yeah, and did I mention that the reason we wanted to move was because of the children’s school?  Well we had applied for a lottery to get our kids in the local charter school, but that didn’t happen…….until today when we received the call that there was a spot…………….a little too late.

But you see, that’s fine….because we decided last week to burn the cart….to go all in….to make the move that had been placed in front of us to better our lives.  When Elijah found Elisha in the field, he threw his mantle on him and said, “Let’s go!!!”  But Elisha had one thing to do before leaving…..”So he returned from following him, and took the pair of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh WITH THE IMPLEMENTS OF THE OXEN, and gave it to the people and they ate.  Then he arose and followed Elijah and ministered to him (1 Kings 19:21.)

So what exactly does that mean….boiled their flesh with the implements of the oxen?  Elisha….burned……the……cart!!!!!  Not only did he get up and follow someone he had never seen before, but he sacrificed his oxen and burned the cart to cook them with.  He got rid of EVERYTHING that would hold him back…..the things that would draw him back when times got tough.  Elisha went all in.

So on a weekend we weren’t even supposed to be home…we bought a house…on a weekend we were supposed to be in a Church, a Church that first introduced me to this very story of Elijah and Elisha….when there was no room at the “inn” and we bumped into someone who once, a long time ago, we would never have dreamed of buying a home from…….God put us in this place.  God provided the plan…the circumstances.  And what I’ve learned is that God’s plan is always there….but you have to be willing to take that leap of faith.  Because playing it safe, not having faith, won’t get you anywhere.

Faith is very powerful.  One time the disciples asked Jesus why they couldn’t drive the demon out of a man’s son.  “And he said to them, Because of the littleness of your faith;  for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to the mountain, Move from here to there, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you (Matthew 17:20.)”

So I tell you…..MOVE THE MOUNTAINS!!!!!  Stop standing idle why others are moving their own mountains.  Don’t watch others step out in faith and wonder why nothing ever comes to you.  Just check out these lyrics from one of my new favorite songs from Elevation Worship, and take that chance.  Have that faith.  Pray that God will open your mind, your eyes, and your heart to let you see the plans He has for you.  And then burn your cart…go all in….because halfway never got anyone anywhere they wanted to be.

Do It Again

“I’ve seen You move, come move the mountains
And I believe, I’ll see You do it again
You made a way, where there was no way
And I believe, I’ll see You do it again”

 

 

 

The other night I was watching the Dallas Cowboys in their first preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals.  As I watched the game, they kept showing images of Dak Prescott on the sidelines, just hanging out, with his headset on, and watching the game.  I began to think about all that has changed in the last year.  This time last year he was fighting for a position on the team…..he was fighting for his career.  And through some extraordinary events, the team is now his.  I’m sure he never envisioned that for his life, but that life…..that life he may have never thought possible…..with hard work, dedication, and God came to pass.

This time last year I never envisioned ever writing a blog, ever going to church as a family, ever reading my Bible everyday, ever praying throughout the day…..but God has a way of putting His plan into action when the timing is right.  A few weeks ago I was watching the second season of Last Chance U….a show about a junior college in Mississippi that takes kids who got into trouble in their first attempt to play football at college and gives them a second chance.  There was a guy on there from Texas Tech who got into some trouble and was kicked out of school.  He said he wasn’t a Christian at that point, but he began to pray and pray and pray…..and when he did, miracles started happening in his life.  Now, a year later, he has become a Christian and is back at Texas Tech getting ready for his second chance…..after his life has completely changed.

I’m a pretty nostalgic person….I always get real deep in my thoughts and think about the past…where I have come from…what I have done.  I have the app Timehop on my phone and always look to see where I was on this day in my past.   You ever wonder if the people in Jesus’s life ever sat on a bench by the Sea of Galilee and looked back to where they were just a year ago.  You ever wonder if they, if they looked at each other one day and asked…”You remember that day Jesus showed up?”

“Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea;  for they were fishermen.  And He said to them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.  Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.  Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee,.  their father, mending their nets, and He called them.  Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed them (Matthew 5:18-22.)”

They didn’t second guess their calling……Elisha didn’t second guess his calling when Elijah showed up in the fields one day and threw his cloak on him.  “And Elijah passed over to him and threw his mantle on him.  He left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, Please let me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you (1 Kings 19:19-20.)”

Looking back on where I have come from….where I am now amazes me.  But I know that none of this would have been possible without me not only just hearing that whisper from God, but moving on it.  God has a plan for you….but God also wants you to play your part in that plan.  You can’t just pray for rain and sit on the coach and wait.  You have to grab your umbrella and rain boots and head out in the front yard and wait.  You have steps you must complete in His plan.

So as I look back I wonder what that moment was that changed my life forever….what I was doing, who said what to me, what song I was listening to on the radio that caused that shift.  But in the end, that shift was caused by God.  God reached down from heaven, took my hand, and said, “It’s time!!!!”

So when your starting quarterback breaks his back for the seventh time, when someone comes up and throws their cloak on you……when God says that it’s time to move……YOU BETTER MOVE.  Because the rest of your life will never happen until you take that first step.

So if you are in a place of struggle….not really knowing what path you are on or what path to take….I pray that you pray…and listen…..listen to what you should be doing next.  It’s not going to be a physical voice telling you your exact move.  But you will know in your heart what you are meant to be doing…..what step you are meant to take.  I pray that when God sends you that message you have the courage to take that first step in His plan.  And I pray that you can sit on your porch “1 year later” and look back on your life and know that God’s plans are in work, and that you have had enough faith to begin to follow them……and one day God will lead you to exactly where you are supposed to be.

Have you ever been in the middle of a situation where you feel like there is no way out……like you are struggling to breathe……like the waves are crashing all around, and no matter what you do, how you react….you just know there is no way out of it?  Life is full of so many variables, so many circumstances…..SO MANY PEOPLE!!!!!  It’s hard enough to fight our way through our own drama sometimes….and then other people get involved.  I received a late night text last night, and the reason they texted me was because they knew I could provide some positivity in a time that they needed it.  And now I sit and laugh, because only a few months ago no one would have ever come to me for positivity….unless it was me being positively negative about something.

We all get stuck sometimes……stuck in the middle where we can’t figure out which side to take….if we choose this path, this person will be upset…..if we choose this path, I may lose a friendship from this person.  And when you think about it….we may be in the middle of something impossible, but we are just the rock or hard place to someone else’s impossible situation.

So I was trying to think today of where in the Bible someone was stuck between one thing pushing on one side, and another imposing obstacle on the other….and there is no more clear example than the Israelites running from the Egyptians towards the Red Sea.  After God had finally gotten Pharoah to see his side of the story, and the Israelites were set free…..Pharoah changed his might and started chasing them.  Eventually the Israelites found themselves between a rock (the Egyptian Army) and a hard place (the Red Sea), with no escape route in site.

But guess what……when all seemed lost, when they thought they were all going to die….when they were questioning the God who set them free….God showed up.  God made the way.  When the Israelites wanted to go back to Egypt, Moses said, “Do not fear!  Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today;  for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever.  The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent (Exodus 14:13-14.)”

I’m not saying you should ask God to make those “situations” to where you never see them again, but what I am saying is that when you can’t breathe anymore, and you don’t think you can stay in that spot, know that God has an escape route already planned out for you.  You just have to have the faith that it is there.

I believe the key to getting out of these uncomfortable conflicts amongst our peers is to turn it over to God.  We can’t control all those around us, we can’t make it all work out on our own.  We must go to the Lord in prayer.  Psalms is a whole book of prayers, songs, and poems of praise that David wrote.  If Israel’s greatest king, one whom God chose, goes to God in prayer and praise, don’t you think we ought to as well.

Psalm 142 says, “I cry aloud with my voice to the Lord;  I make supplication with my voice to the Lord.  I pour out my complaint before Him; When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path.  In the way where I walk they have hidden a trap for me.  Look to the right and see;  for there is no one who regards me;  there is no escape for me;  no one cares for my soul.  I cried out to You, O Lord;  I said, You are my refuge, My portion in the land of the living.  Give heed to my cry, for I am brought very low;  Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me.  Bring my soul out of prison so that I may give thanks to Your name;  The righteous will surround me, for You will deal bountifully with me.”

David definitely seems to be in a rut, but he cries out to the only one that can help.  So I pray that when you are in that valley, between the two cliffs, and the boulders start to tumble down towards you, and you have nowhere else to turn…..turn to God.  He can fix all.  He will fix all.  But He won’t do anything if you try to do it yourself.  He is always waiting for you to reach out.

I know there is something out there for me….a plan….something Greater than what I’m living now.  And it’s not for myself, but my dream to help others….but sometimes, sometimes I just don’t get it.  2 weeks of work….2 weeks of preparation put in…..not only myself, but others as well….into something that was supposed to happen today.  Only at the last-minute for it to be cancelled.  It’s at these times…..in that initial moment….I just want to yell out, “WHY?”

My goodness…..and the disappointment just continues…..All I wanted to do was sit down and write about my experience today but as soon as I try to concentrate….”The TV isn’t loud enough, the kid is dragging the plastic dog toy across the wood floor.  I don’t want to take a shower.  Screaming children.  Crazy dogs.”  Maybe I’m not meant to write today, but maybe this is meant to be a lesson in accepting disappointment for what it is and patience.

As Paul says in his letter to the Colossians, “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience;  bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.  Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.  Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.  Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father (Colossians 3:12-17.)”

So I will forgive the one who disappointed me today.  Maybe today just wasn’t the right time.  I will love my children….even though they drive me up a wall sometimes……and, well, there really isn’t much that can be done with the dogs.  I will be patient.  I will take a breath, I will set my eyes on God, and I will continue with His plan.  For I’m not supposed to know the ending, just the next step along the way.

All days aren’t perfect.  And all days aren’t disasters.  In fact, today was pretty darn good.  We got up and went to church as a family for the first time almost all summer……since they boys have been away.  Then we came home and watched some Elevation Church as a family while eating lunch.  We had some outdoor play time and hung out together and played some iPhone games.

That’s why at the end of the day you can’t let that one thing that doesn’t go just right drag down the rest of the day and keep you down all night.  Because at the end of the day……who really cares if I didn’t have my meeting that I was supposed to?  Does it really affect my life (well, it could, but I still haven’t closed this chapter…just put it on hold.)  We are all going to struggle from time to time….but its how you respond….its where you place your faith and trust.  And like I’ve said many times….my faith is in something much greater than myself.  My trust lies with Jesus Christ.  So as day becomes night, the house is quieter, the boys are in bed, the dogs are laying down, and I now have the perfect writing conditions (even though I’m about finished,) the events that didn’t happen today will pass.  The disappointment is all but gone, and I will move on, press on, continue on, in my faith, into tomorrow……to see what Monday has in store.

I pray that when the disappointments come, and they will, that you have the faith to trust in the Plan….that even though you may not know why whatever happened, happened….that it happened for God’s purpose.  I pray that you can put your faith in Him in these times.  It’s a struggle, and a struggle I go through as well, but when you place that faith where it belongs, then the days will become easier, and those disappointments will be easier to get through and recover from.

 

 

I’m not going to lie.  This week has been tougher than most.  I’ve been up, I’ve been down.  I’ve been happy, I’ve been sad.  I’ve been lonely, afraid, upset…..but I’ve also been secure, empowered and had a sense of calm.  I attribute all of the changes in my life to my walk with God, but I also attribute some of these things to the fact that my support system has been away for so long now.  But luckily, as I write this, my family is finally on their way home from their vacation.

Who is your support system?  Who is there to help you in the bad times, and cheer you on in the good?  We all have somebody we can go to…..someone that we can bounce ideas off of….someone who can push us when we need to be pushed, and hold us back when we are stepping out there a little too far on our own.  These days I have my earthly support system in my family and friends, but I definitely lean on God more and more these days.  And the great thing about that is……that’s God’s job.  God wants us to lean on him at all times in our lives.

The last few days I have been reading from Judges.  I’m not going to lie, I’ve said it before, I’m not a Bible scholar.  Before I started Judges, I thought it was about the court and the judicial system.  I just didn’t know.  But Judges is about the time of the Israelites after Joshua.  They had no true leader.  The “Judges” were like tribal leaders who oversaw day-to-day operations.  This was a time in Israel’s history where they had arrived in the Promised Land, but still had no faith…..and at times struggled to follow God.  They would break God’s law, worship other God’s, become bad people……and when all of a sudden they would be conquered by some other group of people they would realize the error of their ways, pray to God, and God would send someone again to straighten them out.  But it was a cycle that went on for years and years….falling away, coming back, falling away, coming back.  Sound familiar?

The last Judge I read about this morning was Gideon.  He was a coward of a man.  He asked God over and over again for a sign before he would move on God’s word.  “Then Gideon said to God, If You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken, behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor, if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will deliver Israel, through me, as You have spoken.  And it was so.  When he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water.  Then Gideon said to God, Do not let Your anger burn against me that I may speak once more; please let me make a test once more with the fleece, let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground.  God did so that night; for it was dry only on the fleece, and dew was on the ground (Judges 6:36-40.)”

I’m sure God was like, “Come on man, I get it….you are scared, you are weak, you are afraid.  But how many times do I have to do something for you, show you a sign, PUT IT RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU, before you will do what I have asked.”

God is our support system.  He always has been, He always will be.  But some days He’s gonna just let us go and do, because there is nothing else He can do or say to convince us of what we are made to do…..what we have been created to do……what is our destiny to do.

My earthly support system will be home in a few hours, but my Heavenly support system is here all the time.  I pray, I sin, I fall away, I pray, I sin, I fall away, I pray………and it goes on and on.  What we need to realize is that God is always there, God is always listening, and even though the “sign” may not be presented to us all day, every day…….He has already pointed you to where you need to be.  Maybe He is just waiting for you to take that step, so He can give you the next one.

So I pray that we will All use God as our support system….but I also pray that we will use His guidance, support, and assistance that He gives us.  We can’t just ask, ask, ask.  At some point we have to move on what He says and shows us.  I pray that we can move when the moment is right, and maybe when the moment doesn’t seem right.  Because in the end….we really don’t know when that right moment is…..only God does.  I pray that you allow God to run HIS plan for your life.

 

The last few days at work we have been troubleshooting an issue with a pilot-side window heat failure.  I spent all day yesterday gaining access to the Window Temperature Control boxes underneath the floor.  This involves removing carpet, pieces of the main entryway door, tracks for sliding doors and other various pieces of furniture in the cabin.  Once I got to the electrical boxes, I could check the wiring between the boxes and the window.  All of the wiring was good, so as I went home last night we had ordered a new Control box to install to see if that fixed the problem.

First thing this morning I put the new box in and it didn’t fix the issue.  The only thing left that could be broken was the window itself…but the installation of a new window is a huge process….a process you want to be extremely sure of before you start.  So here is what we did……we built a test harness.  This harness was about 25 feet long and it allowed us to hook one end up to the connections inside the plane and hook the other end up to a known good window that we had ordered.  Once complete, we turned on the window heat and our failure message went away.  We made what you could call a “go between.”

When I went for my walk at lunch I was just about finished making the harness, but it really got me thinking about my life.  What do I have that could be considered a “go between?”  And then it hit me……Jesus Christ is my go between.  I’m currently reading my Bible, from the beginning, and it amazes me how little faith and trust that the Israelites had in God.  They angered him on so many occasions.  But when you look back at the “requirements” to get to heaven back then, it was impossible to hit the mark every time and in every situation.  I could just imagine how frustrated God was.  As a father myself, I get so frustrated with the boys sometimes when they just won’t listen, or do what is asked of them.  So what did God do?  It was in His plan the whole time, but He sent His son Jesus down to wash away our sins, to be our umbrella, our veil so that God only saw what was pure in us.  He sent a “go between.”

Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.  If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him (John 14:6-7.)”  That one statement alone, from Jesus, makes me ecstatic…..and it should make you ecstatic too.  Do you really realize what God did?  He sacrificed his son……on a cross…..to die…..so that we may live.  We now have the ability to have a one on one relationship with Jesus and God, that wasn’t possible before Jesus came to Earth.

Jesus also said, when foretelling of His death, “He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me.  He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me.  I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.  If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.  He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.  For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.  I know that His commandment is eternal life;  therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me (John 12:44-50.)”

Did you pay close attention and count how many times in those few verses that Jesus said God “sent me?”  3 times He said God sent him to Earth.  God has always known that we couldn’t get through life on our own.  We would never be good enough to get to heaven by deeds and works alone.  Our eternal life comes from the true belief and acceptance that Jesus Christ lived, died on the cross for our sins, and was resurrected from the grave……..to beat the devil and unlock the gates of hell.

So when you are having a rough day, an awkward time in your life, or even when things are going awesome…..know that Jesus is there.  He walks beside us holding our hand in the best of times, and He carries us in the worst of times.  He is the ultimate “go between.”

I pray for all of you that you truly know Jesus Christ….that you truly have a relationship with him and you can talk, and walk, and celebrate, and morn, and praise Him all hours of your days.  I pray that you can use Him as your “go between” to troubleshoot your life.

With the family out-of-town for the week, I have used this time wisely to get my workouts in. I’ve been going hard because once school starts and soccer starts my time, once again will be limited.  Normally my workouts consist of weights, but now since I have the time I’m doing weights, abs, and I throw in a 3 mile run at the end.  My first 2 days of runs were awesome, and then I woke up yesterday and could barely walk.  Looks like it caught up to me.  So I took the day off.  Today was a run day again, but as I started, I was dreading it, but I knew I had to get it in.

Now this is where I may have lost my mind, but I am in such a wonderfully spiritual place right now I can’t help it.  The run wasn’t bad, but as I made the turn for the last mile it started getting tough.  One of my favorite songs from Elevation Worship came on, and I started singing as loud as I could as I ran down the road…….lucky for me I have some great noise cancelling headphones.  As I hit the quarter-mile mark and I just wanted to quit, in a mostly sunny sky it started raining on me.  I knew at that moment God was there cheering me on.

I have grown to love the rain.  You see, to me, rain symbolizes God’s blessing on my life….the assurance that I am on my path and moving in the direction God wants me to be moving.  Today isn’t the first day it rained on me when I felt like I needed that push.

I’ll go back to just a week ago.  My wife and I were at our conference for our business, and we had just had a complete emotional breakdown through the last speaker of the day.  The story behind that is quite long, so I will skip that for now, but just know…God had been lining that speaker up, for that exact moment, for both of us.

The last few sermons we had been listening to before we left for Dallas were about Elijah and his life.  “Now Elijah said to Ahab, Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of the roar of a heavy rain shower.  So Ahab went up to eat and drink.  But Elijah went up to the top of Carmel;  and he crouched down on the earth and put his face between his knees. He said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea.  So he went up and looked and said, There is nothing.  And he said, Go back, seven times.  It came about on the seventh time, that he said Behold, a cloud as small as a man’s hand is coming from the sea.  And he said, Go up, say to Ahab, prepare your chariot and go down, so that the heavy shower does not stop you.  In a little while the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy shower.  And Ahab rode and went o Jezreel (1 Kings 18:41-45.)”

That day, after we left the conference we were standing in the parking lot of my brother-in-laws hotel.  My wife asked me, still emotional, “Are we gonna do this or what?”  As she asked, out of a cloudless sky it began to rain.

God blesses us all in so many ways.  So nowadays, when the rains come, it strengthens me.  The rain gives me hope.  The rain gives me comfort that God is all around us.  It lets me know that in my toughest times, and when I need just a little sign of assurance, that He is there.

As it says in Isaiah, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways, declares the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.  For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;  so will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;  it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:8-11.)”

God sends the “rain” for a reason.  Whether it is to guide you down your path, comfort you in a time of need, or just to show you He is there.  These days I run towards the storms.  The storms are where we grow the most.  The storms are where we find our way.  The storms are where we grow in our faith the most.  I don’t even carry an umbrella anymore.  I pray for God to rain down on me.

I pray that you come to love the rain…..or whatever else God uses to show you He is there and you are on your path.  I pray you run for the storms.  Don’t be afraid.  God is there…..watching over you, teaching you, building you up, protecting you…..He is always there….even in the darkest of storms.  I pray you learn to not need an umbrella.  Soak it all in.