Taking Time to Smell the Roses

 

Friday, June 30, 2023

“Be still, and know that I am God!  I will be honored by every nation.  I will be honored throughout the world.”  Psalm 46:10

Each year at annual conference the several days at Lake Junaluska was enjoyable and inspiring in the mountain setting of Western North Carolina.  There was one opportunity I always loved, and the half-week stay would have been empty if I’d missed walking the half-mile of roses.  

The variety of sizes, colors, and textures, combined with the astonishing mixture of beautiful delicate scents, are always a welcome contrast to the sturdy ruggedness of mountains and lake…you cannot walk that half-mile without stopping to take it in and dwell on the majesty of God’s handiwork.  Breathing-in the crisp morning air, and seeing the dew-kissed petals of God’s creation, is one of life’s wonderful joys.  It’s hardly a mystery why we all know that familiar phrase:  take time to smell the roses!

It's also no surprise to me that today marks an end to the last 18 years serving as a pastor to United Methodist churches, and the 25 years before that as a Baptist minister.  I am retiring from vocational serving, and entering serving for the pure joy of being obedient to He who has been faithful and my Rock every day of my life, including that first nine months when my Mom carried me around.

I have been expecting this day to come, and since it is now here, I can share the mixed emotions that flood my soul, as surely as the beauty and scents of the Junaluska Rose Walk. 

One of those emotions is, of course, sadness.  The many challenges and joys of serving as pastor cannot be placed on a scale to see which outweigh the other.  Despite the hard times, even if they overwhelmed the good and great times, I would not trade loving what God called me to do these last 45 years, ever since a pastor, long overdue for vacation, invited an inexperienced church member to fill his pulpit while he was gone.  I had promised God I would never say “no” to an opportunity to proclaim His word.  It’s been a ride!  And God has blessed, never failing to teach, help, heal, and direct me all along the trail.  The sadness I feel is that this chapter on what I have loved so deeply is now closed.  And that leads me to the second emotion at the other end of the spectrum:  I feel great joy!  That joy isn’t relief from the pressure, or the weight of caring for others 24/7/365; rather it is in knowing, with all my flaws, sermon-flops, missed opportunities, and times of never knowing the next step…God has it all sorted-out.  And, much like Joseph, the 13^th son of Jacob (Israel) who was sold into slavery by his brothers, in the end, faced with either revenge on his evil brothers, or forgiveness, God enabled Joseph to figure it all out just what God had in mind.  Here’s what he said to them:

You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.  Genesis 50:20

My joy is that I trusted God for it all, and that trust wasn’t wasted!  He will use all of it, because God’s Word never comes back to him empty-handed![1]

For You Today 

Smelling the roses (for me) is going to mean thinking-back, evaluating, and just plain resting.  There will be a little golf, some aimless mountain roads to drive, just to take-in life along the way, spending quiet time with my bride.  I’m going to be still, and know He is God.  I’m also going to hit the pause-button on publishing Rocky Road Devotion for July, and much of what I have been doing as a pastor these near 5 decades.  Going to smell those roses…be back in August.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day! 

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Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©  

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[1] It is the same with my word.  I send it out, and it always produces fruit.  It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.  Isaiah 55:11