To say that life is sometimes abrupt and harsh
is to miss it by a country mile. We all
know life can turn on a dime. The
possibilities are as endless as the horizon, and, it seems, the longer you
live, the more that dime is spinning, and is attached to a funnel cloud. You might recognize a few of these times when
you feel like your life is spinning on a dime:
· The test the doctor gave you for AIDS or a myriad of diseases is
positive
· The extra in your pay envelope is a notice to clean out your
locker
· The drunk driver that hit your car head-on (coming close to
making your husband a widower) has no insurance
· You find out you should have read the fine print
on that paper you signed
· Your child announces he’s gay, and doesn’t believe in God
But that stuff is all hypothetical, right? I mean, nobody here has had any of those
problems…that stuff only happens to other people. Except when it happens to you! Life turns on a spinning dime all too often; Puerto
Rico had three different governors last week and is now considering a fourth;
their dime is whirling!
Ask the families of 29 people in Dayton and El Paso, or the
families of nearly 3,000 who died in 9/11 terrorist attacks, or the families of
countless soldiers who went marching off to war, but were carried
back home. Measles immunity is
possible; all the other stuff is on the table, all the time. Life turns, spinning on thin dime.
Life at the United Methodist Church charge of Mt. Zion and
Pleasant Hill also spins regularly, like when the D.S. informs the PPRC Chair
they will have a new pastor next year.
You hear all about the new guy and you’re just getting used to the idea
of change, and the superintendent calls again to say he can’t come, so you’ll
have the same old pastor. Just when you
were getting used to the idea of a break from Brownworth you’re back in the
same old harness. This is church
life, itinerancy spinning on a thin dime; an
ecclesiastical/denominational spinning dime!
I can tell you it feels much the same from either side of the
pulpit. Whether it’s 60 people getting
used to one new pastor, or a pastor’s family trying to get used to 60 new
people, and a whole new town to live in, the spinning of the dime can cause a
run on WalMart for Tums™ and Rolaids™.
What can ordinary people like us do when life comes at you this
fast? Let’s take a bit of wise advice
from the war room…there are at least two certain things we can do; we can PRAISE
THE LORD AND PASS THE AMMUNITION.
Praise the Lord
Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. Psalm 62:5-7
For those who are trusting in Christ, there is nothing which can
touch our life. Remember the song Martin
Luther wrote: A Mighty Fortress Is
Our God. In the final verse it
says, the body they may kill; God’s truth abideth still; his kingdom is
forever. Luther must have been
reading Psalm 62 to pen those words…your life and whole eternity are
untouchable by any earthly spinning dime.
Praise him!
Pass the Ammunition
Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Philippians 3:13b-14
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…Amen!
Go to VIDEO
[i] Title Image Thanks to my dear and
talented daughter and sister-in-Christ ,Jennifer Klim, original drawing by Illustrator. All Scripture quoted is from The New Living
Translation (unless otherwise stated)
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