A lesson I'm learning
Weird things happen in my life. I can't help that they do... they just do. Yesterday's random was this... and it was just random, I don't think it serves any point to tell the story except it happened, but it did happen.
I work at Hill AFB and there are all kinds of people that work at Hill AFB. Thousands. Hundreds in the section I work in. Some of the guys that I used to serve with in the Air Guard work in the same building I do. It's a BIG hangar. I run into them sometimes, but last night was a bit unusual.
One of the guys that used to be in my shop and I had a class together. No big deal, it's not the first time I've run into one of the guys in a class. However last night there were two of us in this class. Two. Him and me. At the beginning of the class, they show a video that starts out with a lady standing on the Utah Air National Guard parking ramp, from back in the "E" model days. I just laughed. Nothing like a trip down memory lane on a Wednesday afternoon....
Does this little event have any significance? No. None that I can see other than stuff like this happens to me all the time. Sometimes, random is just a chance to talk to an old friend and get caught up on other old friends.
That's not the lesson I'm learning though, I just thought it was a good way to put into perspective some of the really weird things that have happened to me over the last week or so. Some you know about, some you never will. I think the big difference between me and most is that when these little things happen, I share the ones that cause me to sit up and take notice and attribute them to God working in my life. If you read the blog, you know one thing I like to do is offer encouragement to someone who may be down, to suggest to you that God works in mysterious ways but He does still work in our lives.
Most noticeably in my life, it seems to be in one area. I've kind of beat that horse to death talking about it. I don't understand it but all I can do is just remember that I made the choice to submit to God's will and He promises that he has plans for me and those plans won't be to harm me. I just haven't learned what I'm supposed to in this situation and that's the only take on it I have right now. Faith is gonna get me through this, whatever the ultimate outcome is. For some reason though, that ultimate outcome isn't gonna happen until God decides when. For now, I'm just along for the ride and we'll see what each day brings us.
So, then what's the lesson I spoke of in the title? It goes back to this, and a misunderstanding I had of a Bible verse about picking up one's cross. I think the concept is easy to misunderstand because when folks hear that, it kind of tends to take us to this little chestnut we've all heard before: 'well, that's my cross to bear".
I've come to understand something this morning: It's not about that. It isn't a burden to carry. We all have those for whatever reasons. Here's what I mean and I'll use my own story this time to explain it: On Sunday I made a very important decision. On Monday, believing what happened to me that day was God's way of telling me to rethink that decision, I did. On Tuesday I asked the other person if we could make a different decision. On Wednesday, I started to make that happen.
Now I know that going from off to on in a day sounds a bit, well, let's be honest "bi-polar" and I understand that. There's no way to share my story of the weekend without sounding like a bit of a lunatic and I'm sorry for that, but it doesn't change the fact it happened. I had a choice to make. I could trust my will or I could trust God's will. It's an interesting dilemma. Who knows what's better for me? Is what I want right now the best for me? Did I make the right choice on Sunday? The big one though for me was this one: After what happened over the last week, why would You ask me to do this again?
I don't have those answers but I understand more the point this morning of what it means to die to oneself to follow Christ. It can't be about me or what I want if I truly believe, and if I do, what price am I willing to pay. If I believe it's God talking to me, how do I say no? Do I pretend I just don't hear him? If I do that will He hear me when I need him, or will He pretend not to hear me? I have to say this, too, there are many who do this and go on to serve the Lord in many wonderful capacities, often at the risk of their very lives. People who distributed bibles in their travels were killed by pirates last week. The only Christian in the Pakistani government was gunned down. I can't even begin to compare my little journey with folks that have died to self, and died literally for their faith. I'm just learning this lesson. What will happen when I do, I don't know, but it's something I need to learn and my circumstances are what God is using to teach me that lesson.
Christians have been getting some bad press, too. I find nothing in the Bible where it's good Christian behavior to disrupt a funeral. It says in the Bible to grieve with those who grieve and rejoice with those who rejoice (something pretty close to that anyway) and I don't find how shouting about sin at a soldier's funeral is winning souls for Christ. There are better ways to do this.
I made the choice to follow what I believe God is telling me; that's why the reversal. I had to accept something that was very hard for me, situation I don't like nor think is appropriate (all I can say, sorry) for what someone else tells me it is. To do that, I remember Jeremiah 29:11-14. I have to trust that God isn't going to put me in a situation that will hurt me. OK, I can do that.
I guess that's what they mean by faith.
I work at Hill AFB and there are all kinds of people that work at Hill AFB. Thousands. Hundreds in the section I work in. Some of the guys that I used to serve with in the Air Guard work in the same building I do. It's a BIG hangar. I run into them sometimes, but last night was a bit unusual.
One of the guys that used to be in my shop and I had a class together. No big deal, it's not the first time I've run into one of the guys in a class. However last night there were two of us in this class. Two. Him and me. At the beginning of the class, they show a video that starts out with a lady standing on the Utah Air National Guard parking ramp, from back in the "E" model days. I just laughed. Nothing like a trip down memory lane on a Wednesday afternoon....
Does this little event have any significance? No. None that I can see other than stuff like this happens to me all the time. Sometimes, random is just a chance to talk to an old friend and get caught up on other old friends.
That's not the lesson I'm learning though, I just thought it was a good way to put into perspective some of the really weird things that have happened to me over the last week or so. Some you know about, some you never will. I think the big difference between me and most is that when these little things happen, I share the ones that cause me to sit up and take notice and attribute them to God working in my life. If you read the blog, you know one thing I like to do is offer encouragement to someone who may be down, to suggest to you that God works in mysterious ways but He does still work in our lives.
Most noticeably in my life, it seems to be in one area. I've kind of beat that horse to death talking about it. I don't understand it but all I can do is just remember that I made the choice to submit to God's will and He promises that he has plans for me and those plans won't be to harm me. I just haven't learned what I'm supposed to in this situation and that's the only take on it I have right now. Faith is gonna get me through this, whatever the ultimate outcome is. For some reason though, that ultimate outcome isn't gonna happen until God decides when. For now, I'm just along for the ride and we'll see what each day brings us.
So, then what's the lesson I spoke of in the title? It goes back to this, and a misunderstanding I had of a Bible verse about picking up one's cross. I think the concept is easy to misunderstand because when folks hear that, it kind of tends to take us to this little chestnut we've all heard before: 'well, that's my cross to bear".
I've come to understand something this morning: It's not about that. It isn't a burden to carry. We all have those for whatever reasons. Here's what I mean and I'll use my own story this time to explain it: On Sunday I made a very important decision. On Monday, believing what happened to me that day was God's way of telling me to rethink that decision, I did. On Tuesday I asked the other person if we could make a different decision. On Wednesday, I started to make that happen.
Now I know that going from off to on in a day sounds a bit, well, let's be honest "bi-polar" and I understand that. There's no way to share my story of the weekend without sounding like a bit of a lunatic and I'm sorry for that, but it doesn't change the fact it happened. I had a choice to make. I could trust my will or I could trust God's will. It's an interesting dilemma. Who knows what's better for me? Is what I want right now the best for me? Did I make the right choice on Sunday? The big one though for me was this one: After what happened over the last week, why would You ask me to do this again?
I don't have those answers but I understand more the point this morning of what it means to die to oneself to follow Christ. It can't be about me or what I want if I truly believe, and if I do, what price am I willing to pay. If I believe it's God talking to me, how do I say no? Do I pretend I just don't hear him? If I do that will He hear me when I need him, or will He pretend not to hear me? I have to say this, too, there are many who do this and go on to serve the Lord in many wonderful capacities, often at the risk of their very lives. People who distributed bibles in their travels were killed by pirates last week. The only Christian in the Pakistani government was gunned down. I can't even begin to compare my little journey with folks that have died to self, and died literally for their faith. I'm just learning this lesson. What will happen when I do, I don't know, but it's something I need to learn and my circumstances are what God is using to teach me that lesson.
Christians have been getting some bad press, too. I find nothing in the Bible where it's good Christian behavior to disrupt a funeral. It says in the Bible to grieve with those who grieve and rejoice with those who rejoice (something pretty close to that anyway) and I don't find how shouting about sin at a soldier's funeral is winning souls for Christ. There are better ways to do this.
I made the choice to follow what I believe God is telling me; that's why the reversal. I had to accept something that was very hard for me, situation I don't like nor think is appropriate (all I can say, sorry) for what someone else tells me it is. To do that, I remember Jeremiah 29:11-14. I have to trust that God isn't going to put me in a situation that will hurt me. OK, I can do that.
I guess that's what they mean by faith.
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