We All Have a Story
If we examine or reflect on our lives, we will discover that we all have a story; a story directed by God.
Psalm 139:13-17, "For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. 14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. 17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!"
Jeremiah 1:4, "Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations."
Galatians 1:15, "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace,"
Then in 2 Timothy 1:9 we read, "who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began," The word "purpose" in this verse suggests a deliberate plan, an advance plan, an intention, or a design. Each and every man or woman has been intentionally created by God, for His purpose and to fulfill His plan.
Often times, as we look at our own or other's lives, we fail to recognize the evidence of the divine hand of God upon it. It appears as though the happenings in our lives just follow a natural course of experience. There are times, however, when we do, very obviously, see God's divine hand and sense that something miraculous has taken place. Actually, in reality, it is a mix of the two.
There are times, when we have heard testimonies of others, where we have comparatively thought that we would like to have had a more dynamic testimony of our own. What we need to realize though is that God is involved in our lives and that causes all of our stories to be dynamic!
My wife, Donna, and I participated in an exercise, which was designed to help us see the evidence of the hand of the Lord at work in our lives. It was very enlightening. The exercise started with us creating a time line for our lives, beginning with our birth and continuing on to the present. The idea was to document any noticeable divine interventions along the way. The purpose of this exercise is to reveal that there are divine interventions in your life and to solidify, in your mind and heart, that He has a plan for you. Most of us see ourselves as ordinary until we begin to recognize God's hand in our lives. Philippians 1:6 tells us that He (God) who has begun a good work in you, will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Once we realize that God has His hand upon us, has a purpose for us and will complete (accomplish, execute) it, is exciting!
My telling of my own journey on the earth, begins with an account that my mother told regarding the birth of her three children. Mother had been tested and examined concerning a health issue she had been experiencing. At the conclusion of the appointment, the doctor met with her and regretfully informed her that due to physical abnormalities, she would never be able to have children. Mother responded to the doctor's pronouncement by asking, "What then will I do with the three that I have?" My sister, brother and I all began our journey with a miracle! The second indicator of the orchestration of the Lord in my life was that I was dedicated to the Lord by Kathryn Kuhlman, who was used in a powerful anointed ministry of evangelism and healing.
I remember various experiences from my childhood where God's angels were at work protecting me. At six years old, I became separated from my family on the Boardwalk in Ocean City, New Jersey. I crossed several major intersections by myself to return to the hotel. Once, I broke my mother's hold on my hand and dashed in front of a car that was passing by! The car missed hitting me by mere inches! My friend and I had ridden our bicycles to a small creek. We were sitting on the abutment of the small bridge there when we heard gunfire. A bullet pinged off the cement between us! My sister, Elaine, was driving a friend and I to our youth group meeting. She did not realize there was a ninety degree curve in the road and was not able to make the curve. She rolled the car over at least two and a half times through a field. All three of us walked away from that accident. My sister was thrown through the windshield! Upon inspection of the car, the roof was creased down to the driver's seat! Elaine had a few small cuts under her chin. I had one small cut on my hand and my friend, John, had a bump on his chest! These incidents are just a few of my many experiences through my childhood and adolescence. If you expend the effort to make a time line of your life's experiences, I imagine your list of events would be pretty extensive also.
Entering adulthood, I worked at Westinghouse Electric in Sharon, PA. I spent six years serving in the U.S. Air Force Reserve while doing a four year apprenticeship at R.D. Warner in Greenville, PA as an extrusion die repairman. At the end of the apprenticeship, the Lord called me to the ministry. I began this new phrase of life by attending Rhema Bible Training Center in Broken Arrow, OK. There have been many incidences of divine interventions in each of these portions of my life.
God is so glorious and faithful! In all the locations of my journey, in all the events, I have met people, gained an education, and had experiences that have formed who I am. God has been orchestrating and present in my life, all of the way.
After Bible School, through circumstances I am sure were arranged by God, I met my wife, Donna. Genesis 24:12-15, "Then he said, "O Lord God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 "Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 "Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, 'Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,' and she says, 'Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink'--let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master." 15 And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder." Rebekah was the appointed one and Isaac did take her as a wife. Donna and I have quite a story about meeting, God speaking, and surprising our entire families. We often tell people that we didn't date, we just got married. Months ago, we celebrated our 42nd anniversary and we still see each other as God's gift. Ah... a story for another time.
Of course, the story does not end here.
The Lord has been gracious and granted to us over 40 years of ministry, where we have experienced God's divine intervention many times over. We have learned a lot, however, we are very aware that there is still much more to learn. God has been faithful and is still working on us. There is so much more to our story and I hope to share more in another blog.
In the meantime, I encourage you to spend some time recreating your own time line. Ask the Lord to bring to your remembrance the most significant and life altering experiences you have had. Then, begin to recognize His intervention, His deliverance, His provision, His healing and His directives! Know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He created you, and also, that He has a plan and a purpose for your life! Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (NIV)
Remember, you have been intentionally created by God for His purpose! Whatever His purpose and plan for you includes, He will enable you to fulfill and accomplish it!
I'd love to hear about what the Lord reveals to you this week.
See you next week!