By Gobel Brockman
Back in the late 80's I worked 3rd shift at the main Post Office in Indianapolis. On one night in particular, I was flat broke. Nothing. Not even enough for a Snickers for lunch. (Fortunately I have a pretty sizable 'reserve tank' to get me through situations like that.) The problem came when it was time for the drive home. The gas gauge was just above the 'E', and it was a 33 mile drive from the parking lot to my driveway. I spent those 33 miles with one eye on the road, one eye on the gas gauge, and one eye looking to Heaven praying for help. "God, if you can turn water to wine, surely you can turn air into gasoline..." As I passed each exit, I was thankful I at least made it that far. Raymond St, Keystone, Southport. Closer to home, but the gauge was refusing to cooperate, creeping closer and closer to the danger zone. As I passed the Franklin exit I thought "Well, at least now I'm close enough to walk." I sang my praise to the Lord as I took the Edinburgh exit, almost incredulous that I made it.
I went straight to bed. When I woke up that afternoon, a thought hit me. I used to do something in those days, and I thought, "Don't tell me I forgot!!" I checked my wallet, and could do nothing but laugh at myself. I don't do this anymore, but I used to cash my paycheck, then take a $20 bill, fold it up, and hide it behind my driver's license in case of 'emergencies'. Like, say, needing gas money to get home from work. Sure enough, the $20 was there. Not only did I have gas money, I could have gotten that Snickers I so desperately needed. Today's lesson - I'm an idiot.
But that got me to thinking - how often do we as Christians go through our lives like that? We sometimes struggle just to get through the day, thinking we'll make it only by the skin of our teeth, when the whole time we have access to the abundant blessings that our Father has for us. We pray, "God, give me strength for the day!" while His Word says, "I am more than a conquerer through Him that loved me." We ask God to get us through temptation when He's already given us all we need to live a victorious life. I think there are many reasons for this, but I think one of them is the simple fact that we fail to realize that God has already given us many of the things we think we have to beg Him for. God doesn't want us going through life praying we make it past each exit; He's given us great and precious promises that we can live a life that's filled with joy, peace, and victory - even in those times when we feel like we're 'running out of gas'.
Child of God, He is for you. And the Bible says, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" You don't have to go through life on 'E' hoping you make it home. Stop and look in your wallet - God's put more than a $20 in there. You have more than what you need to make it. Now enjoy the trip home.
Have a Snickers while you're at it.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Leave the Light On
By Gobel Brockman
A Pastor friend of mine once told me about the first funeral he conducted. He had recently graduated from Bible college and had taken his first church staff position. A local funeral home called him and said they had a family that needed a minister for a funeral, and they had no church affiliation. The funeral director asked him if he would be willing to perform the service, and he agreed. He contacted the wife of the deceased to make the arrangements, and in the course of the conversation she told him, "I should probably tell you that there won't be very many people there. My husband didn't have a lot of friends. To be honest, he was a very difficult man to get along with, and wasn't very well liked. He was always cantankerous and looking for a fight." So the day of the funeral came, and the crowd consisted of the man's wife, their two children, the funeral home director...and that was it. And my friend said the family acted as if they just wished it was over with so they could go home - there were no signs of grief from any of them.
That story causes me to think of what kind of life that man had to have lived to have no one sorry he was gone - not even his own family. And that causes me to think what kind of life and legacy I'm leaving behind. Not so that people will come to my funeral, but I wonder just what kind of example I'm presenting to the world. Jesus said that "...no one lights a candle and then puts it under a bed, but they put it on a candlestick so that all can see the light." What that means is that when God works in our lives, He does it so that all around us can see what He did so that they'll want it for their own lives.
God has done so much in my life, more than I could ever write in a blog. But I sometimes wonder how well of a job I do in 'letting my light shine'. I consider one of my greatest faults to be that I can let the unpleasantness of the moment blind me to all of the good that's around me. It's in those times that my light dims. When a fire starts to go out, it needs refueled. As Christians, we do that by prayer, repentance, and time alone with Him. And it's in those times that I need to get 'refueled' by allowing God to remind me of that very thing - I'm surrounded by His goodness, regardless of the present situation. He's still working in my life, and I need to live in such a way that it's obvious to those around me. I dare say I'm not the only one reading this that struggles with that.
When I get to the end of my time here, my hope is that I've lived in such a way that people have seen God's 'light' in me. My prayer is that people will talk about a life that has been touched by God's grace, and that the name of Jesus will be honored. I'm not really concerned about my funeral - I don't even care if I have one. It's NOW that I care about. I want my life to affect others NOW. I want people to see the light of Christ in me - NOW.
(Sing it with me: "This little light of mine, I'm a gonna let it shine...")
A Pastor friend of mine once told me about the first funeral he conducted. He had recently graduated from Bible college and had taken his first church staff position. A local funeral home called him and said they had a family that needed a minister for a funeral, and they had no church affiliation. The funeral director asked him if he would be willing to perform the service, and he agreed. He contacted the wife of the deceased to make the arrangements, and in the course of the conversation she told him, "I should probably tell you that there won't be very many people there. My husband didn't have a lot of friends. To be honest, he was a very difficult man to get along with, and wasn't very well liked. He was always cantankerous and looking for a fight." So the day of the funeral came, and the crowd consisted of the man's wife, their two children, the funeral home director...and that was it. And my friend said the family acted as if they just wished it was over with so they could go home - there were no signs of grief from any of them.
That story causes me to think of what kind of life that man had to have lived to have no one sorry he was gone - not even his own family. And that causes me to think what kind of life and legacy I'm leaving behind. Not so that people will come to my funeral, but I wonder just what kind of example I'm presenting to the world. Jesus said that "...no one lights a candle and then puts it under a bed, but they put it on a candlestick so that all can see the light." What that means is that when God works in our lives, He does it so that all around us can see what He did so that they'll want it for their own lives.
God has done so much in my life, more than I could ever write in a blog. But I sometimes wonder how well of a job I do in 'letting my light shine'. I consider one of my greatest faults to be that I can let the unpleasantness of the moment blind me to all of the good that's around me. It's in those times that my light dims. When a fire starts to go out, it needs refueled. As Christians, we do that by prayer, repentance, and time alone with Him. And it's in those times that I need to get 'refueled' by allowing God to remind me of that very thing - I'm surrounded by His goodness, regardless of the present situation. He's still working in my life, and I need to live in such a way that it's obvious to those around me. I dare say I'm not the only one reading this that struggles with that.
When I get to the end of my time here, my hope is that I've lived in such a way that people have seen God's 'light' in me. My prayer is that people will talk about a life that has been touched by God's grace, and that the name of Jesus will be honored. I'm not really concerned about my funeral - I don't even care if I have one. It's NOW that I care about. I want my life to affect others NOW. I want people to see the light of Christ in me - NOW.
(Sing it with me: "This little light of mine, I'm a gonna let it shine...")
Sunday, February 3, 2013
"Ya Take the Bad With the Good..."
By Gobel Brockman
It's been a typical winter here in the Hoosier state. Snow, cold, and windy, followed by a couple of 60 degree days before the next snowfall hits. As a mailman I hear this statement frequently: "I bet you hate this weather!" I've noticed that my response is almost always the same: "Ahh, ya take the bad with the good..." There are days when it's great to be outside. (Like when it's about 45 degrees and cloudy.) There are other days I'd give about anything to have an inside job. (Like anytime it gets above 85.) But if I'm going to be a mailman, I have to take my own advice and 'take the bad with the good.'
Jesus said in the Bible that "...(God's) rain falls on the just and the unjust." To put that in today's terms, I think He was saying, "Life happens." It's a simple reality that we all sometimes forget - good things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to good. Sometimes we don't get what we deserve. Sometimes we should be very grateful that we DON'T get what we deserve. Every one of us, whether we profess to be a Christian or not, are going to have good AND bad things happen in our lives. But as Christians, I think it's easy to fall into the trap of blaming God when the bad stuff hits. "God, I'm Your child, I shouldn't be going through this! I'm praying, and yet nothing's changing! Have I sinned? Are You mad at me? Are You even there?"
You may not want to admit you've ever prayed like that, but honesty demands that I do. There have been times I've felt that it's a waste of time to pray because nothing's changing. But these simple truths always eventually come back to me: God is there, I'm His child, He does love and care about me, and the fact that life isn't going the way I want at that moment doesn't change any of those facts. It's in those times that I remind myself being a Christian is about following Christ THROUGH life, not expecting Him to get me OUT of it. He was with me - and blessing me - when I married an awesome lady, got to experience the joy of becoming a father of three, and the incredible joy of hearing a little one call me 'Papaw'. He was also with me when I had to watch my Dad suffer and eventually lose his battle with cancer, when I got the unexpected phone call that my Mom had passed, and when we went through the indescribable pain of losing a grandchild. Through it all - all of the good and all of the bad - He has been there.
I guess my point this week is this - if anyone has told you that following Christ is a 'Get out of jail free' card when it comes to life, they lied. All of us go through good times and bad. As someone once said, Christianity is about following Christ through life, not expecting Him to get you out of it. So put on a smile and grab your umbrella. God's with you and it might rain today.
It's been a typical winter here in the Hoosier state. Snow, cold, and windy, followed by a couple of 60 degree days before the next snowfall hits. As a mailman I hear this statement frequently: "I bet you hate this weather!" I've noticed that my response is almost always the same: "Ahh, ya take the bad with the good..." There are days when it's great to be outside. (Like when it's about 45 degrees and cloudy.) There are other days I'd give about anything to have an inside job. (Like anytime it gets above 85.) But if I'm going to be a mailman, I have to take my own advice and 'take the bad with the good.'
Jesus said in the Bible that "...(God's) rain falls on the just and the unjust." To put that in today's terms, I think He was saying, "Life happens." It's a simple reality that we all sometimes forget - good things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to good. Sometimes we don't get what we deserve. Sometimes we should be very grateful that we DON'T get what we deserve. Every one of us, whether we profess to be a Christian or not, are going to have good AND bad things happen in our lives. But as Christians, I think it's easy to fall into the trap of blaming God when the bad stuff hits. "God, I'm Your child, I shouldn't be going through this! I'm praying, and yet nothing's changing! Have I sinned? Are You mad at me? Are You even there?"
You may not want to admit you've ever prayed like that, but honesty demands that I do. There have been times I've felt that it's a waste of time to pray because nothing's changing. But these simple truths always eventually come back to me: God is there, I'm His child, He does love and care about me, and the fact that life isn't going the way I want at that moment doesn't change any of those facts. It's in those times that I remind myself being a Christian is about following Christ THROUGH life, not expecting Him to get me OUT of it. He was with me - and blessing me - when I married an awesome lady, got to experience the joy of becoming a father of three, and the incredible joy of hearing a little one call me 'Papaw'. He was also with me when I had to watch my Dad suffer and eventually lose his battle with cancer, when I got the unexpected phone call that my Mom had passed, and when we went through the indescribable pain of losing a grandchild. Through it all - all of the good and all of the bad - He has been there.
I guess my point this week is this - if anyone has told you that following Christ is a 'Get out of jail free' card when it comes to life, they lied. All of us go through good times and bad. As someone once said, Christianity is about following Christ through life, not expecting Him to get you out of it. So put on a smile and grab your umbrella. God's with you and it might rain today.
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