Have you ever gotten a question from your kids that left you speechless..or caused a series of thoughts to begin to race thru your mind?. Allow me to share with you one of those moments that have lead me here..
A couple of Sunday's ago, we all were sitting in church worshipping the Lord..This particular Sunday was not a typical Sunday...and I even hesitate to label any Sunday a typical Sunday because that leaves an impression of mundane or lackluster..however this Sunday there was a very vivid presence of our Lord Jesus Christ in the building..This Sunday was the day after a church member had suddenly died for no apparent reason and just off the heals of another member who was a Deacon who also passed away..so we were remembering those loved ones..The granddaughter of the woman who suddenly went to be with the Lord came down at invitation time along with her parents and her mom's sister and she decided to offer her life up to Christ and follow him..The moment was extremely moving..and at the end of the invitation, the husband who was up in the balcony screamed out in his aged and failing voice.."She went to be with Jesus"..I must say that flew all over me and overwhelmed my emotions causing tears to stream down my face and a sense of sorrow and joy all at the same time. The joy was because she did leave us to see Jesus...and sorrow because she left behind loved ones including her husband who missed her dearly..The message this day was especially powerful as well making this day one of the most memorable and intense worship services I have attended in quiet some time..My girls watched tears stream down just about everyone around them including Nicki and I..They sat is wonder, trying their best to figure out just exactly what was happening..but just to young to wrap their mind around it and still spiritually blind to be able to see the Lord move as He did this day..
So as we were leaving the service walking to our car to head home, I made the statement "Man what an intense service and Jesus was all in that place today"...CJ looked at me with this inquisitive stare and said "I did not see Him.."..I replied, CJ God has not yet lifted the blinders off your eyes or unplugged your ears so you could see and hear Him..one day He will"...and then the question that followed tapped deep into the core of who I am and what I potentially exist for..she said "Daddy, are you sure?"...Silence fell upon me and I had no answer for her..My flesh wanted so desperately to say..Yes Honey I am sure...but my spirit would not allow it..See here is why this simple questions penetrated the depths of my being..There is absolutely nothing I can do to ensure her salvation..Nothing I can do to help her see or hear..This is something God Almighty must do and she must receive the free gift when it comes..The very thought of me not being able to ensure her place in Heaven sends terror throughout my soul..and shakes the very man I am. See no amount of guidance I might provide for her..no amount of worship time I spend with her..no amount of prayer that I labor on her behalf, no amount of example I might be, can Save my child..and that scares me to death..I sit her thinking about this and it just tears me up on the inside knowing that Me, Her Daddy, cant make this decision for and cant control the work of Christ our Lord. He must choose to extend this free gift and she must be ready to receive it.. Of all the things I can do for my girls..Provide, Protect, and Lead...this one area of up most importance and significance, I have no ability..Now I realize I can do my part as her Father and the Leader of this home to prepare the way so that when the Lord comes calling, she is in a position to welcome the call..but ultimately I am helpless in this matter...and the one thing I would give my life up for above all else for her is for her to come to know Christ as her personal Savior and Lord of her life.. To one day see my girls bow before Him in humility and pray to Him, to serve Him and to live their life for Him. There are very few things in life that I desire more if any than for this to come to be during my existence on earth.. and as bad as I desire this, there is nothing I can do to make it happen..
There are those nights when we pray just before bedtime after our family worship time..when CJ as she did the other night, make intercession for her sister Jaydin and ask the Lord to heal her form her poison ivy and to make her better...and then as it comes to Jaydin's turn she thanks the Lord for CJ praying for her..I mean it is in those moments that I praise God for who He is and for the power He possesses and the humility that bears upon my soul..that it is undeniable that God is working in our lives because the evidence is clear...in those moments at least..I am so humbled to see little children who are just beginning to understand what it means to follow Christ and to cast their burdens at His feet, no matter how big or how small...and for Christ to give them the wherewithal to have the courage to talk to Him and ask Him for protection for our family and to help those who are lost...and to seek forgiveness for the wrongs of the day they may have committed..I mean I can see the circles coming together and the Lord working in their lives..each day the prayers get more and more heart felt and provide more depth and less repetition.. Or the days when you take the girls to school and your 4 yr old who hasn't the slightest clue of what God is all about say something like this " Daddy, look at God's creation" as we ride down the road and we see the beautiful sun rising amongst the blue sky with colorful trees and flowers in the backdrop..for her to say something like that just leaves me speechless and humbled before an Almighty God..who is Sovereign over all of Creation...
Let me leave you with this quite from a very powerful book I have just embarked on called "Knowledge of the Holy" by AW Tozer..and let me just say for those of you who are struggling to understand the attributes of a Holy God as I was and am...this book will push your mind beyond what you are used to and challenge you to think of the Deity in the proper perspective..and not in the Americanized view of just above Man, but like Man..
***What is God Like?".. I must acknowledge that it cannot be answered except to say that God is not like anything: that is, He is not exactly like anything or anybody. We learn by using what we already know as a bridge over which we pass to the unknown. It is not possible for the mind to crash suddenly past the familiar to the totally unfamiliar. Even the most vigorous and daring mind is unable to create something out of nothing by a spontaneous act of imagination***
May God be with You today and guide your way!!
EB
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment