One Ride, Two Perspectives

Last night Dan and I took a quad ride on the Little Manistee ORV Loop. We left well after 8:00 pm and knew that we would lose daylight soon. It was a beautiful night with almost a full moon. The trail had just been groomed. It was a perfect night for a ride. We saw at least 10 deer and two of them were bucks. As we traveled and we lost sunlight I started to question where we were. I started thinking I took a wrong turn because everything looked different. I have ridden this trail many times but when darkness fell I started to question if I was on the right path. I started thinking about my life and realized that too often this is when I start to doubt. When things get dark or I can’t see what’s ahead I start to ask questions and doubt what God has planned for me. The ORV trail is marked and there are not many turns going off of it. I just have to follow the signs and the trail. Proverbs 3:5-6 states: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

God knows what is best for us. He has a plan laid out for our lives with signs along the way to direct our paths. We need to let go push our doubts aside and enjoy the ride. We (I) spend too much time worry about what’s ahead and sometime miss the joys of the day. So as I go about my week I am going to be in God’s Word and follow his leading. Remember Psalm 119:105 says: Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Trust HIM!

Hey, this is Dan. In reading Chad’s post above, I was inspired to add my own perspective.When Chad had asked me if I wanted to go, I was conflicted. I’d just spent about three hours traipsing through heavy brush and bogs looking for the flora and fauna of God’s creation. After that, I threw hay bales for another 45 minutes or so. That said, I was already pretty exhausted, but there’s something in me that just can’t turn down the chance to ride. As tired as I was, the adrenaline was rushing through me and I was ready to go!

Hitting the trails, the first thing I noticed was how smooth they were after just being groomed. It would have been awesome to simply enjoy the sights as we cruised over flat trails. Quickly, though, I noticed that I couldn’t really see much because it was so dry that the dust clouded my vision. As darkness fell, it began becoming incredibly difficult to see anything… including some of the sharp turns on the trail. I fell further and further back from Chad, hoping the distance would dissipate the dust and allow me to see.

Though this was effective in letting me see the trail a little better, it had another effect on me… loneliness. It’s amazing how reassuring it is to see the red tail lights of another vehicle when you’re on a winding path through the dark wilderness. It made me think about how often, because of fear, I slowdown in my pursuit of God in order to attempt to see the twists and turns in the path ahead of me. That’s not what we’re called to do! We’re called to charge ahead, pursuing God full throttle and trusting that the light ahead of us will guide us to safety. Unfortunately, because of my distance from Chad and my focus on the trail, I missed most of what he saw. I was so focused on not getting hurt that I neglected the beauty that God surrounded me with.

Psalms 56:3 says “When I am afraid, I put my trust in You.”  Also, Deuteronomy 4:29 says “But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find Him, if you search after Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” See, God doesn’t want us to seek Him with some of ourselves but with all of our heart and soul! It takes a lot of faith to do this but as Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.” It is going to be dark, dusty and difficult on the path of life but God provides a light for our way. My lesson from that ride is this, charge after God full throttle!

As leaders (dad’s, mom’s, boss’s, pastors, teachers…) we need to be aware of the needs and perspectives of those following us. Don’t move so far ahead that all the people who are following you only see your taillights. Don’t leave them so far behind that they feel alone and lost. How do we bring those that are following alongside us so they can see the big picture? As followers how do we push ourselves to come alongside full throttle?

Break Our Hearts For What Breaks Yours

This weekend has been awesome and difficult. Saturday we celebrated the homecoming of our daughter Rosalynn who we were supposed to adopt 14 years ago. God has brought her back home after 12 years. It was an awesome day introducing Rosalynn to our friends and family that knew her the first 2 years of her life. We wish we could have protected her from the past 12 years, but she is with us now. We are so grateful to have our daughter home. That evening I went to check in on a group that had been serving at camp. They were having a service around the campfire as I sat in the shadows my heart began to break as I heard and saw teenager after teenager stand up and share what they were struggling with. After each person shared I watched their peers and adult leaders come up and wrap their arms around them and pray for them. I began to circle the fire and pray for what was happening God was moving in the minds and hearts of these young teenagers. As I went home to go to bed I laid awake praying for these young hearts that are dealing with a lot of garbage that they should not have to face in a lifetime not to mention as teenagers.

It was a short night and as I got up to travel to Banner Church in Byron Center, Michigan where I was preaching that morning. I could not shake that group of youth from my mind so I continued in prayer on my two hour drive.  As I was gathering for prayer with the worship team a young friend came in to say hello. Jayson an 7 year old that is fighting bone cancer. I told Jayson that I and the camp staff had been praying for him. He put his head on my chest and just laid there. As I hugged Jayson I continued to let him know I was praying and would keep praying for him as I fought back the tears.

During the service the worship team sang the song "Jesus, Friend of Sinners" by Casting Crowns. As I listened to the words the pictures from the last 24 hours were playing like a video in my mind. As we sang the words "Jesus, friend of sinners break our hearts for what breaks yours” I realized that God is breaking my heart for what breaks his. This morning I have a renewed commitment for creating an environment for people young and old to come and meet with Jesus in a personal way. And to live out Camp Living Waters mission statement everyday: Serving and Loving People, So They May Know and Grow In Jesus Christ. Please join me in prayer for our hurting teens and their future.

Three Days of Ministry, One Missed Appointment.

This past weekend we had the privilege of being apart of Unity Christian Music Festival. Over the 3 days that we were there we talked to many people about Camp Living Waters. We prayed with several people for a variety of things and people prayed for us. We caught up with people that we had not seen since last year and celebrated joys and grieved sorrows with each other. All this while watching and listening to Christian recording artists and sponsoring ministries. Many had shared great stories of how God was using them to spread the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ throughout the world. On Friday evening after two days of rain God sent a rainbow directly over the crowd and the stage as if to say "I Am here and still in control." What a truly amazing way to spend three days.

As I was leaving Friday night to make the 2 hour drive back to CLW I was in a steady stream of people that were leaving to travel back to their homes. I looked up to see an older man sitting on a well used bicycle facing the stream of Christians leaving the festival. What I noticed is that no one seemed to notice the man standing right in front of us. I made eye contact and gave a head nod and said "Hey, how are you?" and then walked on like I really did not care how he was. As I got 100 yards further I felt like I need to talk to this man. His eyes told a story of hurt and emptiness and need.

I walked on, got in my car and made the 2 hour drive back to my warm, happy home. The next day as I prepared to speak at Countryside United Brethren Church in Breckenridge, Michigan I could not shake this man's eyes or the fact that I walked by. See I was speaking on God's to do list for each of us. Ephesians 2:10 states "¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." My agenda was to be at Unity Christian Music Festival to promote Camp Living Waters and to bring more people to camp so that we might be able to minister to them. I try to pray each morning that God will fill my agenda, that I would be doing the things that he wants me to do, those things he has planned in advance for me to do. Friday night with this man's eyes staring at me, I walked by. I walked by and I believe I missed the one thing God had on my agenda for Friday, August 10, 2012. This man was not waiting for the crowd to walk by he had a wide opening that he could have just kept riding. He was there with needs and waiting for me to stop and really care how he was. I am praying that I have another opportunity for this appointment and that I will not miss others that God has planned for me. Whats on your to do list today?