We are called blessed when we accept
the perplexing offer of God. Respond not react.
It is so good to see you all today!
The Mayan Apocalypse didn't happen! I suppose you will all have to
reinvest in your retirement plans and apologize to your relatives for
finally telling them “how it is.” I had joked several times but
it really wasn't a joke, that it didn't matter to me a bit if the
world was to end on the 21st of December because my heart
was right with God. I am far from perfection. I have a long way to
go to even get close to that, but I am confident of who I am and
who's I am. I have made many mistakes, I have failed at many things.
As many of you know, Diane and I owned a restaurant for several
years before I went into the ministry. I have to say that that
venture was doomed to failure from the very beginning. I am not a
business man. I'm not good at it and I never really wanted to be. But
those years were a necessary part of my journey.
And now, all these years later, I am
here today in this place with you, in this place, worshiping a God
that loves us. What could be better? The world didn't end. We still
have to deal with the difficulties of this life. Don't get me wrong I
welcome the chance to continue the road to perfection. I look
forward to the next chapter of life. I can't wait to see what God
has for me next because there is always something that is 'next'. But
we have to ask the question, how do we face a future that is unsure?
How do we live with confidence when we don't know when the end of our
life will come?
Looking back over the events of your
life, can you imagine how overwhelmed you would be if you knew before
hand every challenge that you have faced and have come through? If
you knew at the beginning, every loss, every sickness, every hurt it
would be near impossible to face a life with all that in store. We
can kind of guess what kind of pain we will suffer in the future but
we can put that out of our minds because the future isn't really
real. If we knew exactly what was going to happen, I believe it
would be too much to bear.
About 10-15 years ago I had a
realization about the impermanent nature of life. Back then my
youngest two siblings were transitioning out of high school. I was
living within an hours drive of my parents house and I would
frequently go there and we would sit around the fire pit and talk and
enjoy each others company. We did this several times during the
summer months and it was great. I loved it. My kids loved it. Life
was good. The realization came one night as I was driving away with
my wife and two kids back to
our home in Gowen. I was hit by a wave of sadness over the fact that
these weekend get-togethers would not go on forever. I could see
where my life was heading, I could see changes happening in my
siblings lives. I knew that we were at a high point in our life. I
could see that things were going to change and I didn't know what
that change was going to look like. I started to mourn the
loss even before it was gone. I voiced my feelings to my wife. I
remember exactly were I was I was on the corner of Jordan Rd. and
Vandecar Rd. I remember this because I always remember when God
speaks to me. You see, often times he uses my wife's voice to speak
to me. I don't remember her words but I remember the message. “There
is nothing to fear. I have even more blessings in store for you.”
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| Photo by Steve Begnoche of the Ludington Daily News. |
Mary wasn't afraid even though the
angel said not to be. The only emotion was perplexed.
She pondered. She pondered the words
of the angel. She went to stay with her cousin Elizabeth who was
also pregnant. I presume that the time spent with her cousin
Elizabeth was filled with much pondering. Pondering what god had
done, what god is asking, what God is growing inside of her. Mary
started with perplexity, responded with openness and grew in her
acceptance and obedience by pondering. How do we face a future that
is unsure? Well like Mary we accept the circumstance that is before
us and we ponder God's will for us in this very moment. God's will
isn't for us to suffer but it may be God's will that we learn to lean
on him in our suffering. It's not God's will that family
relationships get strained but it may be God's will that when they
are strained we appreciate the value of the relationships we have and
we redouble our efforts to cultivate them. God may be asking you to
accept a challenge, to face something new, to make a change. God may
not be telling you all the negative stuff that will happen, you may
only be hearing about the positive things. When I realized that the
closeness of my family around the fire pit was only for a season the
sadness over what was going to be lost was all that occupied my mind.
But when I look back, my life has been a beautiful journey with God
that has been full of blessings that I could not possibly have
anticipated. I was released from the prison/blessing of business
ownership and brought into life proclaiming his word in this way.
When Mary went to stay with Elizabeth,
her cousin knew right away that Mary was pregnant with a very special
baby. Likewise when we move obediently into Gods will, when we turn
and orient our lives toward God, it won't go unnoticed. If you are
following God's direction it will be affirmed by Godly people. There
will be people who will recognize it as such and it affirm it. So
how we we live a confident life in a world that is unsure? We seek
the will and word of God in every circumstance and ask, “How will
God be birthed into this world through the things He has called us to
do? How is God strengthening us and preparing us through the
challenges we face?” And we stay in constant communion with our God
and with each other through every difficulty.
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