Why do I feel compelled to write this blog? To bear witness of great love received and to share it with anyone who needs encouragement. I don’t know who will read my words, but it’s not my job to have it read—I just need to praise Him, and if there are useful words to bless a reader, God will find that Reader. Maybe it’s you.
Meditating on experiences unique to me, yet often typical for His followers, I can see looking back many private lessons He prepared just for me. The illustrations I found may not brighten your path, but may focus your attention on happenings that left you wondering, “What’s going on here?”
My wish is that instead of passing quickly or absent-mindedly through the series of life lessons He prepared just for you, Dear Reader, that you watch for His hand in the seemingly random turns you find your life taking. Look within and notices how subtly (or suddenly) your GPS (that is God’s Path Specifically for you) may change directions. Ponder about His possible purpose for sending them your way. Even though you may be slogging through a threatening rainstorm, when the clouds clear away you will often find yourself halfway up a long, steep hill, and realize He is still holding your hand!
I don’t remember a time when I was not aware there was a God and His Son Jesus. That was always a fact in my life just like I knew my earthly parents, all powerful, to be respected, and as I grew more aware, to be obeyed and loved. These were facts I was taught and never doubted.
Even then I understood that after His death, Jesus was seen by many people, friends and strangers alike—any court of law today would have trouble disproving those hundreds of eye-witness accounts! And don't forget the hundreds of prophecies in the Old Testament which predicted His coming--odds of any one man fulfilling even a few of these prophecies are astronomical, beyond imagining!
By age seven I understood the difference between acknowledging His existence and entrusting my future to Him, allowing His presence within my spirit and permitting His guidance forever. By age eight, I followed Him in baptism, sealing my commitment to Him forever.
And It puzzled me throughout my years that there were people
who didn’t see this truth. How starved many children must have been, growing up
without being taught of His great love and power, without being cognizant of
the incredible world He created for us—the intricate, delicate balance of His
creation from the star-filled sky to the bluebonnets growing in grassy fields
beside sparkling rivers or roaring waterfalls, from tiny spiders weaving
silvery webs to catch their dinner on the fly to mankind and the wonderful
knitting together of a complex body topped off with a brain and heart capable
of appreciating (and needing) relationships with God Himself and others of our own kind.
This background gradually prepared me to understand what God promised and that my decision and participation were necessary to receive the supreme offer of His life for mine. The Bible declares that all of Creation cries out to glorify God, even though man is often too blind to see. How could anyone doubt the existence of great love and intellect needed to enable the creation of all this extreme depth of complexity and beauty? To look around this world and the wondrous workings of my own body and think chaos just happened upon this grand scheme? Dear Ones, that requires more faith than I can imagine!
1 The heavens declare
the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto
night sheweth knowledge.
3There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not
heard. Psalm 19:1-3
No comments:
Post a Comment