An elderly gentleman slowly made his way up the isle to the front of the sanctuary and up to the pulpit. A small flag label pin and military stance reminded onlookers that this was a World War II veteran.
In his hand he held a leather-bound Bible worn from use. His eyes misted as he tenderly opened its pages, and there was a comfortable familiarity in his voice as he read the selected passage.
Age had slowed his steps but increased his fervor for the Lord. His relationship with his Heavenly Father had been strengthened through years of hardship. Both showed on his face. God’s promises held the richness years of hardship forge. Times of testing had proved God’s love steadfast and sure.
The privilege of walking with the Lord for many years is something youth can not understand and middle age only contemplates. But, it starts with the faltering steps of a new Christian seeking to please God.
The silver-haired head is a crown of glory,
If it is founded in the way of righteousness.
(Proverbs 16:31, NKJV)
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Saturday, August 16, 2008
SMALL
SMALL is the word that has defined me. Synonyms have been echoed in nicknames like Peewee, Half-pint, and Shrimp. Even those dearest to me tease me about my height. My older daughter likes to stand behind me and rest her chin on the top of my head.
Looking up to people gets old. The posture not only risks neck strain, it can also make me feel unimportant and too small to serve God in any meaningful way. Sometimes I have to remind others and myself that God made me exactly the height He wants me to be.
David was a teenager tending his father’s sheep when God anointed him king. I wonder if he ever felt small and unimportant sitting under the stars outside of Bethlehem with no one to listen to the desires of his heart. Was the solitude of a shepherd boy the tool God used to inspire a poet and develop a heart of prayer?
We are never too small or unimportant for God to use. Our Heavenly Father begins where we are to mold us into the individuals He longs for us to become.
Looking up to people gets old. The posture not only risks neck strain, it can also make me feel unimportant and too small to serve God in any meaningful way. Sometimes I have to remind others and myself that God made me exactly the height He wants me to be.
David was a teenager tending his father’s sheep when God anointed him king. I wonder if he ever felt small and unimportant sitting under the stars outside of Bethlehem with no one to listen to the desires of his heart. Was the solitude of a shepherd boy the tool God used to inspire a poet and develop a heart of prayer?
We are never too small or unimportant for God to use. Our Heavenly Father begins where we are to mold us into the individuals He longs for us to become.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Weather and Change
“From the mouths of babes” must have first been spoken by a mother. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I have become a student to one or the other of my daughters. The other day the oldest of the two, now twenty, shared something she had writen a while back. God uses the insight of youth as well as the wisdom of age to teach His children.
__________________________
Weather: rain, snow, sun, cold, hot, blizzards, tornadoes and hurricanes. The weather is constantly changing and taking on knew faces and forms.
Sometimes I fill like my life is like the weather. Things are always happing and changing. The normal flow is always interrupted. Sometimes it is catastrophic just like a level 10 hurricane. Other times it is a simple disturbance like a short thunderstorm on a warm spring day, or sometimes it is even a short shower on a cool summer night. Many things affect life, and what is the norm often changes.
Even though it is hard when things don't go the way planned, I don't want to loose the disturbances in my life. I want the wind to blow, I need it to blow hard, long and strong. Every time it blows, God’s love is ever being shown. If the bad never happened, would my faith or anyones faith for that matter really truly be as strong?
Always, continually thank God for the good, but remember Him and still take time to praise Him even during the bad. (Barbara Dickhoner)
__________________________
Weather: rain, snow, sun, cold, hot, blizzards, tornadoes and hurricanes. The weather is constantly changing and taking on knew faces and forms.
Sometimes I fill like my life is like the weather. Things are always happing and changing. The normal flow is always interrupted. Sometimes it is catastrophic just like a level 10 hurricane. Other times it is a simple disturbance like a short thunderstorm on a warm spring day, or sometimes it is even a short shower on a cool summer night. Many things affect life, and what is the norm often changes.
Even though it is hard when things don't go the way planned, I don't want to loose the disturbances in my life. I want the wind to blow, I need it to blow hard, long and strong. Every time it blows, God’s love is ever being shown. If the bad never happened, would my faith or anyones faith for that matter really truly be as strong?
Always, continually thank God for the good, but remember Him and still take time to praise Him even during the bad. (Barbara Dickhoner)
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Mourning in Hope
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. (I Thessalonians 4:13 – KJV)
One afternoon in a college dorm room the tears started flowing. A wise room mate encouraged me to stop stifling them back. I’d been doing that far to long. It was time to mourn.
I grew up in a church that ignored the comparison in this verse. Being taught believers are not allowed to grieve I had no outlet for my sorrow. Mama died from cancer my senior year of high school, but I was well into college before God taught me the release that comes through godly sorrow.
The comparison words “even as” tells us there is a type of mourning for believers. Our mourning is different because we have HOPE.
This week my whole church is mourning. Last Monday afternoon a dear elderly gentleman we love died. Praise God for a pastor who knows how to mourn along with us and point us to the hope of the resurrection.
Dear friend one of the important things my childhood pastor failed to realize is that tears are a gift from God. There is healing power in the ability to cry and lay out our broken hearts before the Lord.
Grief is a natural NEEDED part of death for those who are left behind.
Believers DO mourn, but it is a sorrow filled with HOPE!
One afternoon in a college dorm room the tears started flowing. A wise room mate encouraged me to stop stifling them back. I’d been doing that far to long. It was time to mourn.
I grew up in a church that ignored the comparison in this verse. Being taught believers are not allowed to grieve I had no outlet for my sorrow. Mama died from cancer my senior year of high school, but I was well into college before God taught me the release that comes through godly sorrow.
The comparison words “even as” tells us there is a type of mourning for believers. Our mourning is different because we have HOPE.
This week my whole church is mourning. Last Monday afternoon a dear elderly gentleman we love died. Praise God for a pastor who knows how to mourn along with us and point us to the hope of the resurrection.
Dear friend one of the important things my childhood pastor failed to realize is that tears are a gift from God. There is healing power in the ability to cry and lay out our broken hearts before the Lord.
Grief is a natural NEEDED part of death for those who are left behind.
Believers DO mourn, but it is a sorrow filled with HOPE!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)