I Love it When a Plan Comes Together

     My wife calls me a planner.  I am actually very good at planning and figuring out the process for doing things.  I love problem solving.  Because I get a kick out of finding solutions, I actually get a bigger rush out of last minute, fly by the seat of my pants activities because it forces me to use my problem solving abilities at a high level of speed.  It's like the reality shows on TV where they take the best car restorers and tell them they only have 3 days to turn a piece of junk into a show-car.  It is fun and pushes you to the next level.
That being said, this trait of mine also means I love to take control of an operation myself and make my own decisions to complete the entire process.  I do love people and love working with people, but I have to make sometimes sure I allow others to use their skills as well when I get caught up in the moment.
      In the life of a church with so many different activities going on, I get the opportunity to do a lot of different things simultaneously.  It is a challenge that I really enjoy.  I may start the day deep in study about theological issues that present themselves to our Bible study leaders and suddenly stop and make an Easter Party poster with markers and glue.  I may be rewriting a musical arrangement for our choir to include some high school instrumentalists and then help the custodian change a light-bulb high up in a closet.  I could be in the midst of reprogramming the modem for our internet network and be asked to drive a group of elementary age girls to the local nursing home in the church van.  This is a lot of variety and there have been times that all of what I just described happened on the same day.
     There is one conclusion that this type of service has brought me to realize.  God is AMAZING.  My life before full-time ministry was a complex web of preparation for these very tasks that seem to pop up randomly in my life.  There is no random.  God is the ultimate planner.  The things he has for me to do today he has often given me experience for years ago.  Each of these things I have described, although they may seem disjointed are all areas where I was trained at different points in my life.   The times I spent growing up as the son of an auctioneer, doing whatever needed to be done, being a computer nerd in the early 1980s,  working at McDonalds, gaining degrees in Music and Education in my 20's, working with children of all ages from kindergarten through college, serving as an assistant in the Band Office at Truman State coordinating tours, inventory, and stage managing for the marching band and wind ensemble, working at a Maid Rite/ Doughnut Shop in Kirksville, marrying Sue Graham and her amazing impact on my life, all of these things have been a step by step process to turn me into the person who has the abilities to to all of these different things and more.  I take no personal credit, because I was hardly even paying attention that God was training me.  Now I look back and see the amazing planning that took place and am in AWE.
     You have probably heard it said that God gives us the tools we need to complete the work he has for us.  I more and more realize the specificity of this promise.  God specifically trains us for the specific things he has for us.  When Moses and the Israelites are creating the Tabernacle, God give not only specific instructions, but tells Moses about specific people who have been gifted for specific tasks.

     Exodus 35:30 Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah,  and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills—  to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze,  to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts.  And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others.  He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them skilled workers and designers.

   Exodus 36:1 So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom theLord has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the Lord has commanded.”

     Rejoice for you are Bezalel and you are Oholiab.  God has gifted you in a specific way, maybe even a gift or life experience that cannot be named, but that has caused you to be the way you are for a certain purpose.  Serve the Lord with your whole heart and your purpose will be revealed as you build a Tabernacle of praise for Holy God.

Revive Us Again

This week, our church held a Spring Revival Week. It came just in time for many of us. A long, cold winter and some grumpy hibernating bears made for a few pretty rough months. It seemed that the things that people were grumpy about had something in common, but in my view it was hard for them to see the common thread. In the days and weeks leading up to the revival services, we prayed, some fasted, and we determined to seek the Lord because it didn't look like the cold or the grumpiness was going to stop on its own.


Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. Matthew 6:33.


This verse comes in the Bible in the middle of a talk about not worrying. The examples mentioned included not worrying about food, clothing, or the things of tomorrow. I had been praying that God would give me some insight into the grumblings I have been hearing and he did just that. He impressed upon me to pray and leave these types of worrying up to Him. I was tending to act as if my superior understanding of these troubling situations,and my experience and level-headedness would somehow swoop in and save the day. I found however that the more I sought to figure out how to sort through the evil attacks and come up with a human conclusion, the more tangled I became. Finally, I bowed out and bowed down.


When it comes to mean-spirited arguments, There is no way to win on our own and there is no way to understand wickedness. " For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."... Ephesians 6:12


Maybe someone did say or do something they shouldn't have. Maybe someone was disrespected. It happens every day. It is the perfect opportunity for Satan to start a distraction that keeps people from seeking the God and His righteousness. So we had a choice to make. Continue to feed our ego and pride by trying to out-maneuver the prince of darkness, or ask God to handle it while we got back to our job of seeking the righteousness of God.


And then, it happened.....

It was a sweet experience to see people who understood the situation begin to humble themselves and pray, begin to forgive, begin to worship God more fully, and place their own egos and pride lower and lower so they could see over them and glimpse the most awesome power in the universe, God himself and His Kingdom.


I would like to say everyone reached that point, but like everything in this life, it is a learning experience. I will also admit that months from now, I will probably need to be reminded of this all over again. However, when I am reminded of the simple request of Jesus, "Follow Me," I am also reminded how hard it is to do in a world filled with evil attacks. A time of revival is a time when I am reminded of the goal..... Seek First the Kingdom of Heaven and leave to God the things that I am poorly equipped to handle anyway. Only then can we be lifted up by the experience of being fully engaged in the plan God created us to fulfill.