Tuesday, November 30, 2021
Lord, through all the generations
you have been our home!
Before the mountains were born,
before you gave birth to the earth and the world,
from beginning to end, you are God. Psalm 90:1-2
Yesterday was an anniversary of sorts.
November 29th marked forty years since I knelt in First
Baptist Church of Crystal River, Florida, and received the blessing of
ordination to the ministry of God’s Gospel.
For those who’ve not experienced that, or thought much of it, it’s a
high point for anyone called to serve.
On that Sunday night I felt vastly unworthy to the calling, and yet,
somehow, unable to object. The “calling”
is an irresistible bubbling-up from within the soul, and who among us can say “no”
to God…at least with a straight face?
My pastor and mentor, Rev. L. B. Thomasson, preached the ordination
sermon, and I recall the threefold challenge as if it were just a moment
ago. He looked directly at, or more
accurately he looked through me and said:
- Russell, I challenge you to stay close to God;
- Russell, I challenge you to stay close to people;
- Russell, I challenge you to bring the two together.
That was Sunday night, a reception, a newly-inscribed commemorative
Bible, lots of hugging, well-wishing, and promises of prayer support.
And then, it was Monday.
And with Monday’s dawn, what was laid on my shoulders with hands that believed
to bless, came the fright of reality – the ceremony was over; the living of
this promise was before us, and only faith in God could sustain so weak a man.
And now, forty years later, those thoughts of inadequacy, unworthiness,
and disquiet over my ability to follow God’s leading, have proved 100%
founded. Russell has never
been equal to the task. Whatever has
been accomplished is entirely God’s doing; I have merely had a front row seat
to watch His miracle unfold.
I have been patted on the back (at times it was a size 12 shoe rather lower-placed
than a back-patting)! I’ve been
congratulated (what a great sermon, pastor), and, like Paul, sometimes
I’ve been shown the door and told get out, stay out!
One unmistakable thread in this forty-years of sermons, hospital calls,
funeral homes, and the highs and lows of human relationships, has been the God
of all Mondays…the dwelling place – the One who was there before the mountains,
and exists as I AM. In every attempt to
serve God faithfully and sometimes (truth be told), attempts to run away from
Him and all the responsibilities of being an under shepherd, I AM has been
there.
From beginning to ending, He is faithful.
For You Today
What do you do when you promised God something on
Sunday in prayer, and then Monday shows up?
Do you pass it off as, well, that emotional moment?
Do you start bargaining with God to get off the hook?
Or
do you trust God on Monday to fulfill His promises?
[1] Title and Other Images: Pixabay.com Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
For another post on this text see A Prayer From the Hourglass and Without Beginning-Without Ending
