Encouragement

Empty Room and Full Heart

This past Mother’s Day I was thinking back on the life of my own mom. Mom passed away in 2006 but was always such a positive influence on my life. In fact, her impact on my life is still evident today. Mom had many medical problems and was always in pain; yet, she always remained positive and always was looking out for the well-being of others. Even though she was in worse health than most of those she encountered, she always found time to make sure they knew she cared for them.

I’ll never forget that sad day in 2006 when it was time for her funeral. In her case, it was somewhat of a blessing that she was no longer in pain but obviously sad for me and my family that we would no longer get to see her bright smile. The church sanctuary was filled with friends and family and the service was brightened by mom’s favorite hymns and stories about her life and testimony. The entire service was so very comforting to me and my family.

After the burial, I arrived back at the sanctuary where the service had been conducted earlier that day. For some reason, I just wanted to visit the church one more time. I’ll never forget how I felt that evening when I walked back in the church. The sanctuary was empty. All the flowers had been removed. There was not a sound in the building except an occasional creak in the floor. Just me in this large church building.

As I walked around the empty church, it reminded me of those times in my life when I have felt alone and isolated. It reminded me of times when I felt like it was me against the world. It reminded me of times when I felt insignificant and unappreciated and defeated. It reminded me of those times when I felt like I was the only one. But, just as the sadness of the day and the pain of the moment reached its peak, my eyes landed on an open bible sitting on a table in the front of the church. Seeing God’s Word reminded me of God’s presence. I realized that I really wasn’t alone.

All of us go through those times when we feel like no one cares. We have those times when life just continues to beat us down and it’s as if we are standing in an empty room all by ourselves. When you have those days in your own life, I hope you’ll be reminded, as I was that day, that you’re never truly alone. Even when everyone turns the other way, as long as you have Jesus, that is really all you need anyway.

Dark Shadows

Encouragement

My wife and I just returned from a much needed vacation in the Smoky Mountains. We were able to take our camper and enjoy the great weather and the many things to see and do. I dare say that we “shopped until we dropped” on many days. The best part though was that we had the opportunity to simply take a break from our normal daily routines and just kick back our feet and enjoy the beauty of the mountains.

Another exciting part of this trip was that this was the first opportunity to take our new dog Remi with us camping. I had mentioned in a prior post that he is new to our family and has been with us almost a year now. We weren’t sure how he would do being around all the other campers with all the excitement that goes on in a normal campground, but we were pleasantly surprised. We had the opportunity to go on several hikes and we could have hiked all day with Remi and he would still keep going. He has much more energy than I do and he really enjoyed the hiking trails and streams and such.

On one particular hike, we were walking in a very shady, calm part of the forest. As we meandered down the dark trail, we could see a small ray of sunshine working it’s way through the thick tree canopy. As Remi got closer to the light, he began to see his shadow. Unknown to him, it was his own shadow. It was hilarious to see how this large shadow of himself actually scared him for a brief few seconds and caused him to run between my legs for protection.

This little episode with Remi got me thinking about those inevitable shadows that we face in life sometimes. It seems like we can be walking along just fine when, all of a sudden, we are rocked and scared by a shadow we didn’t see coming. When those shadows do come your way—-and they will—always remember a couple of things as you go through the darkness: (1) There can’t be a shadow unless there is also light nearby. Even when things may appear to be at their darkest, always remind yourself that God’s light is a close as your heartbeat and He will always see you through your journey; and (2) The shadow always appears larger than the real object. The angle of the light shining through the trees that day made it appear that Remi’s shadow was as large as a giant bear but, in reality, the real object was as small as the dog itself. Our minds have a way to make things seem worse than they really are. Our job is to stay focused on the never-changing truth of God.

Do You Find Yourself Running From God

Encouragement

I have to admit that there are some ridiculous horror movies out today. Everything from the classics of old to the modern day slasher films. I don’t watch them very often because I just really don’t like horror flicks. To be honest, watching these movies makes me tired. It seems like someone is always running from someone or something and trying to avoid getting caught.

Just think about it for a moment. Either someone is running from a person about to slash them or trying to get away from some killer zombie. Or, better yet, trying to get away in their car that suddenly won’t start. Or, they get locked in some creepy motel room and they are being stalked by the sadistic motel clerk. I could go on and on but you get the picture. And, you’ve probably seen a lot of these movies. For once, I wish these folks in the movies would just lead a normal life and stop running into and from these killers. It sure would make their lives a lot easier.

Unfortunately, I think back in my own Christian life and, if I am honest, I have found my self doing the same thing. I don’t mean running from zombies. It’s even worse. I find myself running from God. There have been times God has clearly told me to do something or not to do something but, instead, of following his lead I run from those instructions like I am part of one of those horror movies. Why would I run from God? Why would I not want to do what he is directing me to do?

In looking back on some of those occasions when I was running from God, it really always boiled down to one thing: I thought that I was a better judge for my life than God. I felt like I knew a thing or two about what direction I should go and I didn’t really need God’s input. Call it arrogance or stupidity or anything else, but it’s wrong regardless. Even though it hurts sometimes and contradicts what I sometimes think is right, I have learned over the years to trust that sweet voice of God and trust that feeling of peace I always get when following God.

If your life seems a little out of sorts now and you just don’t have that feeling of peace that you think you should have, ask yourself a very simple question: Am I running from God? If you honestly answer “yes,” I would encourage you to try changing directions. Start running toward God instead of away from God. Embrace what HE has in store for you and your life instead of fighting it.

You’ll realize that HE has been there all along waiting for you with open arms.

The Joy of Singing in the Rain

Encouragement

“It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain.” Isaiah 4:6

Some of my favorite memories as a child were when our family went on Camping Trips. Camping was an inexpensive way for all of us to pack up and visit places we normally would not have been able to afford to visit. We camped near beaches, on mountaintops and everything in between. There is just something about the camping experience that makes wonderful memories. Maybe it is the chance to get away from your normal routine. Or, perhaps its the smell of bacon cooking in the morning. It might be that your camping neighbors just always seemed to be friendlier than your normal neighbors. Whatever it was about camping certainly made a lasting impression on me.

I remember one particular trip we took to a local State Park. We went through the normal routine of packing the car full with our coolers and our tent and clothes and barely leaving enough room for all of us to fit in the car. Somehow we managed to make it to our destination and start the unpacking and tent set-up. I have to admit that we weren’t much help to my Mom and Dad. He pretty much had to set-up the tent and unpack all of our “stuff” while my Mom kept an eye on us as we gathered wood for the eventual fire and had sword fights with the fallen tree limbs we found.

As nightfall approached, we finished our dinner of hot dogs over the open fire finished off with roasted marshmallows. We slowly made our way to our tent and started coloring in our coloring books and just having fun as a family. Suddenly, without warning, a huge storm approached. It rained and rained and rained some more. My brothers and I were fairly young and, of course, we were scared as the rain pounded our tent and the ground rumbled with the sound of thunder. Just when we thought the storm was slowing down, some of our tent poles collapsed and the center of the tent fell upon us. We kids panicked thinking the world was coming to an end while my Dad climbed out of the tent and reset the pole in the driving rain storm. He managed to re-sturdy the tent and climbed back inside, soaked to the bone, dripping water over all of us. Despite all of the drama, we could see the calm face of our Dad and somehow that calmed our nerves and made us feel safe and secure. It wasn’t very long until we were back working on our coloring masterpieces. The weather finally calmed down and we managed to all snuggle in our sleeping bags for a comfortable night’s sleep—our tent and our Dad protecting us from the storm’s fury.

This story reminds me of the many trials I have been through in my own life. Trials that many of you are going through as we speak. There have been times when I honestly didn’t know what to do next. Times when I thought all was lost. Times when I felt hopeless. During those rainstorms in my own life, it always comforted me to know my Heavenly Father was there protecting me and repairing the damage of the storms. Over time, I learned that the driving rainstorms of life didn’t have to be depressing and defeating. Instead, I let the storms remind me of His Heavenly protection and shine as an example of His many miracles.

Are you experiencing your own rainstorm in life right now? Instead of feeling defeated by the trial and the storm, let the rain be a gentle reminder to stay focused on God’s presence in your life while providing you with encouragement that the warm sunshine is not far behind.

Sometimes We Run From Things Not Chasing Us

Encouragement

“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.” Matthew 6:34

I always enjoyed spending summers with my best friend at his grandmothers home in Middle Georgia. It was my opportunity to spend a little time away from my normal home activities and enjoy hanging out with my buddy. It was such a great time in life. We swam in local swimming pools, played out on the farm, and even spent time fishing. The local town was extremely small so it was an experience just walking around witnessing a taste of how life used to be back in the “good old days.”

I’ll never forget one of those days we decided to try our hand once again fishing. We both enjoyed fishing a lot although we never had much success. Honestly, I think we spent too much time talking and making so much noise that it scared the fish away. When we finally had enough for the day, with no fish to brag about, we started our walk back to my friend’s grandmothers house. Suddenly, out of nowhere, we approached a log that had a coiled snake sitting on top. We both panicked and ran away from the snake, toward the house, as fast as our little legs would take us.

The snake was no danger whatsoever, but we didn’t stop to think otherwise. We ran and ran and ran until we both were so out of breath we had to stop and rest. Big mistake. As we stopped to catch our breath, we both heard some crackling on the forest floor. Our imaginations went wild and off we ran again. Surely, there must be more snakes coming after us. The faster we ran, the more we panicked. Our journey home was filled with our imaginations gone wild. Every leaf blowing in the wind and every stray animal noise meant instant death in our minds. Our minds had convinced us to run from something that was never there to begin with, but you couldn’t have convinced us otherwise at the time.

Each of us goes through trials in our life. For some of us, it is financial hardship. For others, there are issues with family and relationships. Many suffer from unemployment or medical concerns. Whatever the burden may be in your own life, it is important to keep things in perspective. The natural tendency is to jump immediately to the worse possible conclusion. Instead of a cold, you have cancer. Instead of missing a bill payment, you are in bankruptcy. Instead of breaking up, you now are single the rest of your life. I know because I’ve been guilty of doing this myself.

Don’t fall prey to running from things in life that aren’t even there. Don’t manufacture and embellish facts that have never happened. Concentrate on God’s plan for your life and let HIM worry about tomorrow. We all have enough to be concerned about for this day alone.

Our Field of Dreams

Encouragement

“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Psalm 16:11

When I was a child, we spent most of our time playing outside for the majority of the day. We were constantly playing football, baseball, or basketball, and even dabbled in street hockey a time or two. If we weren’t able to play outside, you would catch us playing with the few toys that we were fortunate enough to own. Back then, there were no video games or cell phones or computers. All we had was our imaginations and those precious few toys that captured our heart, everything from miniature cars to board games and anything in-between.

One of my favorite toys was my electric football set. Today’s generation might ask, “what in the World is an electric football set?” The electric football field was made from a thin piece of metal, painted as a football field, attached to an electric cord that plugged into a nearby outlet. The field was designed to resemble a traditional football stadium with scoreboards, goal posts, and even stands full of fans. The football set had two teams of plastic football players. As a “coach,” my job was to place my team on the field in strategic locations. My opponent “coach” aligned his team on the field to counter my team’s set-up. We each placed our opposing players carefully on the Field in hopes that our team would somehow score and eventually win the game. Then the fun really started. We simply turned the switch to “on” and the Field vibrated so that the plastic football players danced and moved all over the metal football field. What usually happened was the vibrating field would send our team’s plastic players in random directions with no patterns or strategies whatsoever. It seemed that no matter how much time we spent preparing our team for victory, as soon as the game was “turned on,” there was total chaos and defeat as our respective players went in every direction except the directions we wanted.

There have been times in my life that felt as if I was living on the proverbial electric football field. It seemed that no matter what I did or how much I planned, my life danced and moved in directions I never anticipated. In fact, it was as if the harder I tried, the worse things got.

Over the years, I have learned that my life is not controlled by me. Usually, I learned this the hard way. I am controlling and stubborn by nature and try to handle life myself with little direction. After many heartaches and failures, I learned that my life is controlled by a Heavenly Father who has a specific plan for my life and knows what is best for me. Whenever I decided to become my own “coach” and move in a direction I thought was best, I usually failed and failed miserably. Whenever I recognized that God is the real “coach” and began allowing Him to direct me–based on my God-given strengths–I became successful in God’s eyes.

If you find yourself going through some of those tough times, simply take a step back and allow God to orchestrate all things in your life. Trust me from experience—-by relinquishing control, you will actually be more in control.

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