These four words
I'm gonna share a video with all y'all at the end of this. It's not a happy one. It's not a hand-clapper, feel good Christian song.
It's anything but. It's dark, it's raw, and it's honest. And it's sometimes where we find ourselves as human beings, and as Christians.
My pastor referred to it as being stuck someplace between Good Friday and Easter Sunday; "stuck in Saturday" is how he put it this morning.
I am. I'm stuck in Saturday, but not because I want to be. I am, however right where God put me and I'm here because it's necessary.
I went shopping this morning before church. I needed a couple of things for the house, and on the way I was telling God that I wasn't trying to fill that empty spot. And then I was asking Him to help me not fill that empty spot. The spot is empty because God wants it empty. I got reminded of that about two minutes into the service. Sometimes I think Karl has a direct line into what I'm thinking or feeling at any particular juncture.
But then, I'm sure I'm not the only one.
We had a great turnout for the conference. And I'm sure that it was a God thing because I saw God do something. We had some local businessmen buy some advertisements for our conference that aired on a Christian radio station in town. The plan WAS to have their logos shown on a screen during the breaks. The plan fell apart. And the manager of the station asked if there was any way we could get them shown as people left. I explained what happened and he was disappointed, but then the oddest thing happened. Dr Cole must be either very observant, or God put it on his heart to call the manager up to give the closing prayer and an opportunity to give a shout out to the folks who helped us out. He thanked me after, and I told him I didn't have a chance to say anything to Dr. Cole. I just told him it 'must've been a God thing'.
I got kind of blindsided by my pastor this morning. He asked me what we were gonna do with what we learned at the conference. Hey, I'm still trying to digest it all, but for me it was a day of validation that I am still stuck in Saturday and that God knows about it. He knows I hate it. He knows it's necessary. And HE put me there.
I'm sure Pastor Karl is on fire for some things. I want to be, but I need a minute or two to come to terms with where I'm at in my own life. We should be ready to put what we learned into practice. Right now, though, I'm trying to figure out how that fits into priority #2. I need to catch my breath. I need to rest, to get over this cold, and need some time to accept that things are lining up for one more trip around the mountain, no matter how badly I don't want to go!
And that goes to the point where I said that I'm sure I wasn't the only one who thinks things are aimed directly at them. There were over 100 guys there and I'd bet each one felt at some point the speakers were talking directly TO them. It's kinda cool how God can do that.
I made friends with one of the speakers at dinner. Brandon Cole is the pastor at C3 church in Ft. Worth. Brandon sat next to me at dinner on Friday and we spoke quite a bit about football, about things, and on Saturday morning, he was talking right to where I'm living.
Because I heard his message from the point of view of the place I am living.
Which brings us back to the song and the title of the blog post. Collectively, our church was well represented at the conference and I am excited to take it "to the streets". I got over being afraid about ten minutes after I walked into the rescue mission the first time. (and it was so good that the two guys from the Ogden rescue mission that wanted most to go and are no longer at the Ogden Rescue Mission but in a similar program in Salt Lake made their way to the conference...God moves like that!) But right now, it's still Saturday. I thought Sunday was coming but things didn't work out like that. They worked out another way which still keeps the door open, but like the horse chasing that carrot dangling from that stick, I still can't quite get there. And it hurts. And I need some time to accept that it's just not time.
Not time to quit. Not time to walk away. Not time to give up and go my own way. Nor is it time for things to be the way I'm thinking they will be in the future. It's not today.
And it's still Saturday. Because it's necessary.
So what I have is a choice to either fill up my empty spot with the things that just left me empty, or to trust God and let Him work in His time. I'm going with plan A which is trust God. I didn't list it first, but it is and always will be plan A.
Even when it hurts.
Being a Christian isn't always easy. Just worth it. Sometimes the things of this life weigh us down. What makes it different is that we know we have hope, and I do. We know there is future glory waiting for us. And I believe God has promised me that He will restore to me the years the locusts ate. So it hurts today. I have hope for tomorrow, and these four words:
It's anything but. It's dark, it's raw, and it's honest. And it's sometimes where we find ourselves as human beings, and as Christians.
My pastor referred to it as being stuck someplace between Good Friday and Easter Sunday; "stuck in Saturday" is how he put it this morning.
I am. I'm stuck in Saturday, but not because I want to be. I am, however right where God put me and I'm here because it's necessary.
I went shopping this morning before church. I needed a couple of things for the house, and on the way I was telling God that I wasn't trying to fill that empty spot. And then I was asking Him to help me not fill that empty spot. The spot is empty because God wants it empty. I got reminded of that about two minutes into the service. Sometimes I think Karl has a direct line into what I'm thinking or feeling at any particular juncture.
But then, I'm sure I'm not the only one.
We had a great turnout for the conference. And I'm sure that it was a God thing because I saw God do something. We had some local businessmen buy some advertisements for our conference that aired on a Christian radio station in town. The plan WAS to have their logos shown on a screen during the breaks. The plan fell apart. And the manager of the station asked if there was any way we could get them shown as people left. I explained what happened and he was disappointed, but then the oddest thing happened. Dr Cole must be either very observant, or God put it on his heart to call the manager up to give the closing prayer and an opportunity to give a shout out to the folks who helped us out. He thanked me after, and I told him I didn't have a chance to say anything to Dr. Cole. I just told him it 'must've been a God thing'.
I got kind of blindsided by my pastor this morning. He asked me what we were gonna do with what we learned at the conference. Hey, I'm still trying to digest it all, but for me it was a day of validation that I am still stuck in Saturday and that God knows about it. He knows I hate it. He knows it's necessary. And HE put me there.
I'm sure Pastor Karl is on fire for some things. I want to be, but I need a minute or two to come to terms with where I'm at in my own life. We should be ready to put what we learned into practice. Right now, though, I'm trying to figure out how that fits into priority #2. I need to catch my breath. I need to rest, to get over this cold, and need some time to accept that things are lining up for one more trip around the mountain, no matter how badly I don't want to go!
And that goes to the point where I said that I'm sure I wasn't the only one who thinks things are aimed directly at them. There were over 100 guys there and I'd bet each one felt at some point the speakers were talking directly TO them. It's kinda cool how God can do that.
I made friends with one of the speakers at dinner. Brandon Cole is the pastor at C3 church in Ft. Worth. Brandon sat next to me at dinner on Friday and we spoke quite a bit about football, about things, and on Saturday morning, he was talking right to where I'm living.
Because I heard his message from the point of view of the place I am living.
Which brings us back to the song and the title of the blog post. Collectively, our church was well represented at the conference and I am excited to take it "to the streets". I got over being afraid about ten minutes after I walked into the rescue mission the first time. (and it was so good that the two guys from the Ogden rescue mission that wanted most to go and are no longer at the Ogden Rescue Mission but in a similar program in Salt Lake made their way to the conference...God moves like that!) But right now, it's still Saturday. I thought Sunday was coming but things didn't work out like that. They worked out another way which still keeps the door open, but like the horse chasing that carrot dangling from that stick, I still can't quite get there. And it hurts. And I need some time to accept that it's just not time.
Not time to quit. Not time to walk away. Not time to give up and go my own way. Nor is it time for things to be the way I'm thinking they will be in the future. It's not today.
And it's still Saturday. Because it's necessary.
So what I have is a choice to either fill up my empty spot with the things that just left me empty, or to trust God and let Him work in His time. I'm going with plan A which is trust God. I didn't list it first, but it is and always will be plan A.
Even when it hurts.
Being a Christian isn't always easy. Just worth it. Sometimes the things of this life weigh us down. What makes it different is that we know we have hope, and I do. We know there is future glory waiting for us. And I believe God has promised me that He will restore to me the years the locusts ate. So it hurts today. I have hope for tomorrow, and these four words:
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