Your Provider Will Handle Your Situation

As I went to pick up Danny yesterday afternoon there was a wreck right before my eyes. The left lane had a line of cars stopped as someone was turning across traffic. Just as I drove by a small car rear ended one of those stopped cars. The mess was huge as I saw car parts fly off as though it was a toy. The front end of that car was demolished as it impacted the back of a pickup. I cringed at what I saw. I can’t be sure what happened but with the afternoon traffic always in a hurry to get home and the line of cars that was stopped it looked as though the small car’s drive had looked down or away for a moment. Just enough time to have a terrible impact on their day to say the least.

We all get in a hurry. Life is busy and we’re busy. We have things to do and places to go. We ask God’s blessing on our plans and then push things into high gear. Although we begin by watching carefully for God’s signal and stay alert for His guidance, we get busy. Then things get congested. We find we have lots of road hazards. One look away from the Savior and we have an impact we never wanted. Our faith gets derailed. Our hope gets demolished.  We were cruising along having a great time and yet we didn’t see the danger ahead that wants to impact our life in Christ. We get to thinking we’re king of the road when actually Christ is King of our entire life. Where we go, how we travel, who we see, even how we make a living and what we do with that living should be under His guidance. But we love to be in the driver’s seat.  

Then we find ourselves on the side of the road unable to move forward. We’re sidelined. It’s then that we have to know what to do so that we can get moving again.  We often pick up the phone and call our buddies, but they don’t have a wrecker big enough to pick up our mess. We survey the damage and discuss within our hearts what we’re going to have to do to get moving again. We plan and talk and discuss and fuss. But we’re still sidelined. The wreck’s impact has done its damage and we’re unable to move on.   

Until we talk to our Provider. When Jesus comes on the scene of the impact, our hearts are at peace again. His plan provides that we don’t ever have to take our eyes off Him, not for a moment. But He knows we’re going to have those lapses of the spirit where our mind plays a trick on us and we think we can handle it all ourselves. So miracles of miracles, He comes the moment we call on His Name. Even if we caused the accident ourselves, He will come to our aide. When others cause the collision He’s there to defend and protect us. When life throws things at us and we’re off the side of the road, He comes to our rescue.

Oh beloved, whatever situation you are in God is with you! You don’t have to figure this trouble out all by yourself. What looks like a demolition derby in your mind is actually another magnificent opportunity for God’s great love to come to your rescue. He gives second chances over and over again. These are teachable moments, sent into your life to remind you that He is the One who should do all the driving. And to remind you that you should never take your eyes off of Him. Wherever you need to be, He will get you there. He promises to guide you into all truth, into His will and into blessings and honor, glory and power when you let Him show you the way. The evidence may be clear that you messed up, you looked away, you got in an accident and someone’s to blame. But Jesus gathers you up when you call on His name.  You can learn not to take your eyes off Him and things will still happen but you will have peace because you have learned to look to Him for everything.

God loves you and He’s for you and that’s why you can call on Him whenever you find yourself in a wreck, whenever you can’t see the road ahead, whenever you’ve been impacted by sorrow, fear, regret, rejection, humiliation, sorrow, worry and more. No road hazard can keep you from receiving all you need from the Lord as you live in the light of His Word all the days of your life.

Psalm 103:11-14 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.  As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.  For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.

Psalm 91:15 He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.

Psalm 86:5 For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.

Psalm 107:19-22 Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress.  He sent out His word and healed them, snatching them from the door of death.  Let them praise the Lord for His great love and for the wonderful things He has done for them.  Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving     and sing joyfully about His glorious acts.

Hebrews 12:2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith….

Time to Forgive Everyone Everything

I bought a metal plaque this week-end at a little Christian bookstore inside Gospel Light Church where we held our CMA Seasons of Refreshing. It read simply, “Forgive Everyone Everything”. It caught my eye and it caught my heart.


I’ve heard it’s possible, but I’ve never met anyone personally who doesn’t love their own children. I admit we parents have no idea just how in love we are going to be while carrying the baby, but at the moment of birth we are forever undone over this bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh.



It’s not always a honeymoon. Kids are imperfect. Parents are imperfect. They step on our toes when they’re little and then they step on our hearts when they’re older. Many times we punish inconsequential things and overlook the big stuff. We try to let them know they’re loved no matter what, but we also try to get them to do things right.



Still and all, they are our heart walking around outside our bodies. No matter what age they are, they are our babies. Our son walked in this afternoon for a quick hello and my heart melted all over again, just like it did the first time I laid eyes on him. Our middle daughter texted an I love you tonight and my heart skipped a beat. I texted I love you to our oldest daughter and got the same in return. Gave me great peace.



Our family is like most families. We get bent out of shape, we don’t always see eye to eye, but in the end, when it’s all said and done, we love one another.



Last night I quoted the plaque. I just don’t have the words to express our complete and inescapable sorrow over such dear, dear friends losing their 35 year old daughter in a car accident. We hold our children’s hands so tightly, even the grown ones. We get accused of clinging and more, but it’s that fragility of life that keeps us parents catching our breath over and over again.



I know you will understand won’t you that today is a good day to forgive everyone everything. I know this because God forgave me and I am the most imperfect person ever known. I didn’t deserve grace, I didn’t merit it or pass any tests for it. But God in His infinite, perfect love, reached down and gave it to me. So I just pass it on to others, especially my children.



Oh beloved, let God love you! Let God forgive you! And then, let God lead you to forgive everyone everything. It really doesn’t matter does it in the long run what it was because God has buried all our sins in the deepest sea – as far as the east is from the west – never to be counted against us again. God knows the struggles you have, He knows the hurts you carry and He knows the burdens that seem oh so heavy. But He’s made a way to help you when you’re low, relieve you of your load and bless you with good days and opportunities to love and forgive. He is trustworthy even when all looks hopeless. He really does love you, He really does hear your prayers, He really does want to walk with you and guide you all the days of your life and that’s all that really matters.



I John 4:10 This is real love--not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.



Mark 11:25 But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.



Psalm 18:6 But in my distress I cried out to the LORD; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from His sanctuary; my cry to Him reached His ears.

Are you Living on Truth or a Dare?

I love to look through old pictures. It’s funny to see how photography and cameras have changed along the years. Mother and Daddy took pictures with an old Brownie Hawkeye. You placed a huge bulb in the reflector for the flash. You also looked down into the viewfinder rather than holding it up to your eye.




Among the old photos there’s one of my friend Pam that I see occasionally. It’s a photo of... her peering over the top of my parents’ house. She’s on top of the porch roof looking down at us! We seemed to like to play truth or dare back then. Our truth wasn’t too awful and our dares were fairly benign, but there Pam is completing her dare. It was a tall old house and I don’t even remember how she got up there, but she was evidently very nimble back in the day. I still laugh when I think about it. I don’t remember the dare, but I do remember the photo. I don’t remember what we were doing that day, but the photo lets me know we were having fun.



Truth or dare. For teens who played the game, the truth could be quite awkward, as the questions were meant to embarrass. Often completing a dare was the easier way to go. Isn’t life like this? We choose everyday whether to live in the truth or not. When we don’t know the truth, or we don’t want to live that way, we choose dare. We dare to escape the confines of God’s Word, we dare to branch out and live our own life, just the way we want to, we dare to go where “angels fear to tread”. Then we wonder, how did we ever get stuck on the roof? We get in a tight spot and we need help to get ourselves out of the place we thought we were so sure we wanted to go.



For parents we watch our children grow up and find that many times they go the opposite direction you raised them to go. It’s hard to see them playing truth or dare with their lives, the life we as parents so love. That life that we gave ours up for to raise and groom and prepare not just for life, but hopefully for heaven as well.

Are you stuck in a dare? Did you decide the Truth was too hard, too narrow, too confining? Did you just mean to step out into the shallows, but now you find yourself up to your neck in troubles? Right about now, you’re wishing you could climb down from your situation and climb into your Father’s Arms where it’s totally safe and secure Maybe you were given free reign to do your own thing, but it’s brought you to the brink of disaster. The daring life is no longer fun. It’s a hard taskmaster but you’re not sure how to live any other way.



Oh beloved, it’s time to go back to the Truth! This Truth won’t embarrass you, won’t reveal your weaknesses or your sins. This Truth will pick you up, straighten your life and give you a firm footing to walk on. It’s not just a momentary fix or answer to a game, it’s a way of life. And no matter how far you’ve veered from God’s Truth, He’s waiting to take you back to Himself. It may seem daring to trust your life to God and let Him call the shots, but this is one dare that will lead you into All Truth, and God’s Word is the only Truth you’ll ever need. If your children or other loved ones have veered from the truth, you can trust God for them as well. Dare to come boldly to the throne of Grace of your needs and for the needs of those you love. God is always willing to answer the prayer of faith and to seek those who have gone astray.



Run to His Word this morning. It’s the Truth! Dare to let yourself live in His light, so that you will always walk in a way of success and courage, no matter what. Dare to let go of self and grab onto Him! He knows your hurts, your anguish, your embarrassment, even when no one else knows a thing, He knows it all. He loves you in spite of everything and He’s for you no matter what and that, beloved, is all that really matters.



Psalm 119:176 I have wandered away like a lost sheep; come and find me, for I have not forgotten your commands.



Ephesians 4:18 Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against Him.



Psalm 107:6-7 “LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble, and He rescued them from their distress. He led them straight to safety, to a city where they could live.



Psalm 130:4 But You offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear You.



1 Chronicles 16:34 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever.