Parents, You can run, but you can’t hide! Forty years ago, I took a Mission Trip to New England with my church. I was in a musical, yes, you heard that right, a musical! Back in that day, I sang in the school and church choir… I was marginally talented, but they needed some people to stand up there, move their lips, and move around. I even got a speaking part in the musical! (A year later, when they were desperate for faces on stage, they put me in the youth ensemble, which, by the way, had some very talented musicians. Yeah, I know, right? Me in an ensemble singing... But one time during a mic check, I discovered that my mic was turned down completely and no one could hear me… Oh, it was definitely for the better, but the reality of being in an ensemble for another face on stage rather than a voice, was a reminder not to go into music ministry of any kind.) So, as we travelled around New England, singing in churches, listening to the ensemble sing “Jesus Paid It All,” God began to speak to my heart about serving Him in full time ministry… I tried to listen, but I am easily distracted and not sure I wanted to hear Him at the time. However, when a friend and I were canvassing a neighborhood with door hanger invitations to the musical, and a large dog came running around the corner of the house barking with his large canine teeth exposed, God had my full attention. I knew my friend could run faster than me, he was in track and football,so out running him to the fence gate was not an option… had we encountered a gater, in the water it may have been a different story, since I was a swimmer… So, as I was sprinting away from Cujo (you younger people look it up… it was a horror movie from the 1980’s involving a big dog, though I never saw it… I hated horror movies and usually liked dogs). I quickly said, “Okay God, if you save me from this large, lunging, New England dog, I’ll answer Your call to ministry.” So, when we returned home, I told my church I had responded to a call to ministry… My announcement had mixed reviews, some encouraged me, others weren’t so sure. For the next several years, I denied my call and began to run from God… I tried to balance rebellion with faith, as my beautiful and wise bride says, it’s like straddling a spiritual fence… until finally, 10 years later, I could run no longer. In the words of a 70’s and 80’s rock band (sort of)… “My jig was up, the news was out, They finally found me, the renegade who had it made, retrieved for a bounty, nevermore to go astray, this'll be the end today, of the wanted man” … I took my new wife and enrolled in seminary in Texas. There have been ups and downs, enormous joys and devastating disappointments, but God has never left me alone on this journey. Even when I was running, His loving hand of protection was on me over and over again. His discipline is on me, but He usually administers it firmly enough to get my attention, but gentle enough not to wipe me out (I don’t always enjoy His discipline, but know that it is necessary). The words of the weeping prophet, Jeremiah, tell us that he apparently struggled with and through his call to serve God. He pleas for mercy in correction, knowing that we are fragile creatures. He says, “I know, Yahweh, no one's course is in his control, nor is it in anyone's power, as he goes his way, to guide his own steps. Correct me, Yahweh, but with moderation, not in your anger, or you will reduce me to nothing.” Jeremiah 10:23-24 (NJB) As we all feel a little out of control with all the recent events of 2020, we just need to remember, though we are free in Christ, that God’s pursuit of a loving, connected, unending relationship with us, supersedes any plans that we may have. We can run but we can’t hide from His great pursuing love for us!
Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for you all!
