Beyond My Understanding
Although we may at first find ourselves unimpressed with certain ordinary events that come our way, they have great potential to influence us and switch us from one path to another. Maybe even an unusual path that curiously causes us to wonder. I’m talking about events like standing in the hospital delivery room 36 years ago witnessing a life (my youngest) enter the realm of the human condition. It was an awesome experience. Or being in on the ground floor of the glory days of a popular California college. It was an unmerited honor. Having a "God call" to pastor the people of Sonrise Church is an unspeakable joy. Publishing music and books has enriched my life and brought about the realization of dreams that seemed too large to even wish. Finding new allies outside the orbit of the denomination delightfully expands my understanding of the universe called God's Kingdom - especially the farther up the age chart I grow.
I have visited places of note like George Washington's tomb, the nation's Capitol, and popular spots on foreign soil. I have experienced a stunning awe standing inside Calvary's tomb realizing Jesus Himself prayed me for when He prayed for those who would learn of Him through the words of those who would be faithful to proclaim the same through the remaining hundreds of years before His return. I've been standing in that line of hearers and responders for over 50 years now and have accept my responsibility to whisper it in the ears of others standing in line behind me: to speak it to whom ever and where ever He opens doors.
The activities of a weekend in 2004 put all the events of my life in proper perspective. I have honestly never been so humbled: never felt so out of place, yet at the same time so connected to the past and shown my responsibility to the future i.e. I was not called to be successful but to be faithful. That, I tried to be that weekend all the while wondering "Why me?" (Not in a negative sense, but a sense of amazement).
Fifteen years ago I was invited to be the kick-off speaker for the summer's
activities of Gull Lake Bible Conference in Michigan. I accepted knowing I could take my wife Gail there, speak a few times, enjoy their hospitality, and get a mental break from the daily grind of ministry… a sort of working vacation. When we arrived Friday morning I was taken to the conference grounds, then to the original tabernacle built in 1902. I walked up to the platform and stood behind the antique pulpit where I would be speaking that night and the next three days.
"You'll stand this week in a long line of speakers," the conference
president said to me. Then he began to verbally recite the names of those who have stood behind that very pulpit. Torrey, Vance Havner, M.R. DeHaan, H.A. Ironsides, Lehman Strauss, Theodore Epp, P.F. Zondervan, Oswald J. Smith, Warren W. Wiersbe, John R.W. Stott, Josh MacDowell, John MacArthur, David Jeremiah, Tony Campolo, Joseph Stowell, Ravi Zacharias.
The other names fell on silent ears as I felt my heart moving toward
the floor. "I'm out of place," I say to myself. "There's no way I can live up to those who have passed this way with their wisdom and knowledge of scripture, not to mention their fame. Why am I even here?” I felt like that commercial on T.V. that asks, "Ever want to get away?"
Then I realized everybody who is chosen to stand and participate in
that long line since Jesus' prayer aren't always those with a big name. The next time you are in line at a place like Disney Land waiting for the thrill of the ride, look at the variety and shapes of people in line with you. Their names are not important nor does a name determine their place in line. They are there for a specific reason. They have heard that the line is worth enduring because of the thrill that awaits them.
When I was introduced the first night, I walked to the platform, almost in a daze because of the history of that pulpit and the heritage represented there. But I took my place in line and as faithfully as I could, dispensed words of truth as passionate as I could, in the ears of those gathered. But why I was chosen, why this experience came my way remains beyond my understanding.
I drove away from those conference grounds with a sense of joy. I left hoping that I could encourage someone else, maybe even you to take your place in that long line and faithfully pass what has been entrusted you. There will be people in that line waiting to hear your story; needing to hear a story like yours that might switch them from one path to another. Your name doesn't matter...only that you be faithful when given the opportunity.