My plan was to submit multiple posts as we entered August,
yet here it is the 10th; things didn’t pan out like I anticipated. God had other plans, apparently. It’s a good reminder of how whenever plans are
replaced with God’s, defer to His. I’m
just glad to have the opportunity to submit content, even if it’s not as
frequently as I would. That’s not even
what I wanted to talk about today. With
those personal remarks out of the way, let’s move on.
Whenever I listen to Rebecca St. James song “In the middle of the fire” (from her
album “Kingdom Come”) it is an interesting
experience, because my mind floods with visceral memories. “In the middle of the fire, I will trust You,
Father. In the middle of the fire, You
are standing with us.” This refrain has particular relevance: “In the midst of my darkest hour, Holy Spirit come
show your power. In the middle of the
fire, You are faithful Jesus.”
To hear these words makes my mind go to two of the most
difficult episodes of my entire life, each absolutely shattering, and each
occurred in the past 18 months or so. I
bring it up today for two reasons. Number one: the older I get, the more I
see that life is a precious gift, but it is also filled with difficulties and
pain. The Bible says, “Yet man is born
for trouble as surely as sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). Number
two: I echo the sentiment from the song: in the midst of my darkest hours,
God has been faithful. I could go on and
on detailing various episodes in my life, and no matter what has come upon me,
I can enthusiastically testify to you that God has been faithful.
Incidentally, the Lord has been faithful to me and, far too
often, I have been anything but faithful to Him. But in those moments, God doesn’t angrily
chide me, and tell me to stand in the corner until I think about what I’ve done
for a while. He welcomes me back with
open arms. In Psalm 3, the Psalmist calls
God “the lifter of my head.” I love Acts
3:19: “Repent, then, and turn to God…that times of refreshing may come from the
Lord. Years ago, in a college paper, I
likened God to a patient coach, who views the tape of episodes in my life, like
a coach watches game footage. With His
arm around me, He patiently says, “That’s not so good here, Kevin. But don’t dwell on it; let’s move forward. It’s on to the next series. I’ll work with you, we’ll clean that up, and
you’ll get there.”
In conclusion, I was recently listening to a talk by Billy
Graham, a hero of mine; I look forward to
thanking him for introducing me to the Lord in Heaven. He shares in that talk that someone had asked
him what was a big surprise in his life, his answer: the brevity of life. I can relate with that. Somehow here I am in my forties. Time is fleeting; life moves so fast. Therefore, I would say please don’t delay in
making important spiritual decisions. “Turn
to me and be saved…for I am God, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:22). Or perhaps Joel 2:13 is a word for someone: “Return
to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate.” If there’s one thing I know it is this: the
most thrilling adventure imaginable is to live a life connected to the God of
the universe, named Jesus.
God bless,
Kevin
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