Recently, the Lord in His providence, worked it so I would run into someone that I haven’t seen since 2015. I say ‘in His providence’ because of how incredibly minute the odds are of running to this person, at that very moment in time. It was a relatively brief conversation, but it was a very uplifting and encouraging one. It got to me to thinking about my life, both back in 2015, and now.
First of all, it was
in 2015 when I heard a pastor give a wonderful sermon. He stated how important it was to resolve to
“go where God calls you to go”. “You
want to be where God wants you,” he continued.
“If He calls you to go, go. And
if He calls you to stay, stay.” I was so
inspired by his words that day, and they continue to inspire me even as I relay
them to you now. Where has God wanted me
to be in 2022? Let me focus on three
items in particular.
#1: God has called me to remain single, at least
for now. I have to begin here
because I can’t overemphasize how often I feel like a fish out of water because
I remain unmarried, at age 41. Why am I
still single? I’m sure some are
wondering the answer to that question.
It’s actually not complicated. In
fact, the answer is quite simple: God has not called me to get married just
yet. I know He could lead me to a
special girl, and my marital status would change. But it has happened yet. So I remain committed to being where God
wants me to be, single and sexually pure, until married life.
#2: God has called me to serve. In the course of my chat with this person I
hadn’t seen since 2015, my employment at Chick-fil-A came up. I have been with Chick-fil-A for many years
now. Working in food service is an
adventure; to try to communicate with people who are low and hungry (I guess
the new word is “hangry”) can be a challenge.
Furthermore, I’m learning more and more that there are some folks who
just lack basic restraint, kindness, and self-control. Yet, God has called me to serve them, forgive
them as God has forgiven me, and love them with the love of Christ.
But, not only am
I called to serve my coworkers and customers at work, God has called me to
serve my family and friends as well. It’s
a joy to continue to look after my widowed mother (and, rest assured, she
certainly looks after me, too). But to
choose to take my eyes off of myself; to serve my family,
friends, and all those in my sphere of influence is so important.
#3: God has called me to trust in Him, even in
the midst of suffering. 2015 is the
year my dad unexpectedly passed away. And
yet while I miss him every day, there have certainly been other episodes of
suffering that have popped up. I could
cite several recent examples of this, but the point is, I’ve learned over and
over again that life on Earth is not a playground; it’s a battlefield.
A few weeks
before he passed away in a car accident at age 46, Pastor Rick Ferguson
presented a talk entitled “When we don’t
understand God”. He brought up the
Biblical character of Job. I was blessed
by Pastor Rick’s words once again, and I hope you will be too. He states:
“Even when I
don’t understand Him, He has done enough in my life to prove that He and He
alone has the words of eternal life.
Maybe Job understood this as well and that is why he could not follow
his wife’s worldly logic. He had to hang
in there with God, even when he did not understand God, because he had no place
else to go. As you know, God eventually
disclosed Himself to Job, and He blessed Job for hanging in there” [he quotes
Job 42:10-13]
“So what do we do,
even when we don’t understand God? We
keep trusting Him. We keep worshipping
Him. We keep serving Him. We keep looking to Him…Let’s encourage each
other to hang in there and “keep the faith” even when it is difficult. Let’s commit to going the distance with Him –
no matter what. Let’s say it and live
it, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” [Job 13:15].
Kevin
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