A Flashlight, A Spotlight, and
A Lamp
This past week I have had some very neat “just happens” in my life. I reference the “just happens” in quote marks because I don’t believe in too many just happens in our life. That is why the title of my book is Things Don’t Just Happen. After years of seeing things that seem to be a neat coincidence at the time, things that just happen to line up one after the other, I began to ask, “Am I just so lucky that things just randomly happen against great odds; or, is that you, Lord?”
For those of you who have lived a life with very few “life challenges”, such as a terrible hurt or trial, you probably enjoy reading and hearing about neat coincidences that people share. The person who is sharing will tell you how God did such and so in their life. I actually over-heard a Sunday school teacher telling one of his class members in the hall this past Sunday, “Isn’t it neat how the Lord structures the teaching time to fit in exactly each Sunday?” I thought in hearing that, “That sounds kind of crazy, my teaching time often goes past time.” But for you who have a terrible hurt in your life, such as a loss of a loved one, I can imagine that you really aren’t interested in hearing a story about how God is in control. You must ask yourself when you hear a story like this, “Why did God allow this to happen to me if He is a loving God who is in control?” This question is a valid one. In the Old Testament of the Bible, we find the story of Job. Job asks God, “–what have I done to you, O watcher of men? Why have you made me your target? (Job 7:20 NIV)” Does this sound like a question you have asked?
At this point in my life, when I see a very unusual coincidence, I now ask myself, “Lord, what are you showing me here?” I asked that very question this past week when I “just happened” to run into my family at a Zaxby’s restaurant very far from all of our homes. It just happened that my mother and two sisters all met at a halfway point between their homes to have lunch. I just happened to be working in the area and decided to eat at that particular Zaxby’s just as they had ordered their food. (The restaurant is an hour and a half from my home.)
It was neat to have lunch with them, and they had a big laugh about another “coincidence” (this meeting) in my life that I would probably write about. I smiled at the comment, but I did wonder why the Lord would line up this “coincidental” meeting. Who might I be there for, or who might be there to encourage me? My older sister brought her very dear friend along on the trip. It was great to see her again, because she is a very loving person. The very first thing out of her mouth was, “Robby, congratulations on your new book!” That encouraged me, but as soon as she said it, my spirit thought, “What does she really think about the book’s content, and especially the title?” You see, a few years ago, her beautiful daughter died suddenly while still in her teens from a blood clot. She played basketball, so the doctor just thought the swelling was from a sports injury. Her daughter was a Christian and was loved by many people. So why was her life cut short and her family devastated by her sudden death?
I would love to be able to answer the questions that she must have for God in order to give her encouragement, but there are no clear answers on this side of heaven that can really do that. I would love to be able to give you answers to many of your trials that are in the past, or present, that would explain the purpose behind them, but I can’t do that either. What I can do is tell you that in all of the trials and difficulties of my life, I have turned them over to the Lord, and the burden on my back has been relieved. Oh the hurt is still there if I dwell on it, but I have to remind myself, “Oh yeah, Lord I gave that to you to carry.” The Bible says, “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall (Psalm 55:22 NIV).” Another good word is found in 1 Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” He wanted you to know that.
All of us would like to know the answers to the many questions that we could ask God. We desire to know our future and purpose, but at the same time, we hope to avoid any trials that may challenge our happiness. I liken that to a flashlight and a spotlight. We desire to clearly see the things that are planned out for our life. We want a flashlight to shine the path in front of us so we know EXACTLY where to walk to avoid any of the “potholes” in our life here in this often dark world. Unfortunately, we will all have the “potholes” in this life that gives us a jolt when we hit them. This is when the testing of our faith kicks in. Some of us have much deeper potholes that seem to take all of the air out of our wheels to the point where we don’t think we can travel on. The Bible says, “These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold – and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world (1 Peter 1:7 NLT).” The deep potholes are the “fiery trials” of life. None of us enjoy trials, but the Bible has much to say about faith. Perhaps we need to reflect now to where our faith is as a result of the trial that we have been through. The Bible says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him (Hebrews 11:6 NIV).” The “rewards” are found in the verse above from 1 Peter 1:7: You will receive “much praise and glory and honor on the day.” As much as you have been hurt, or as much as you still hurt now, you must remember our time here is very short in comparison to an eternal life. The Bible says, “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away (James 4:14).” Our short time here in this world, compared to our eternal life, is like a vapor of mist squeezed out of a misting bottle to water your house plants.
Now, for those of us who have hit the deep potholes of life, we desire to see how any good can come out of what we’ve been through. Our “pothole” may be so deep that it feels like we’ve been tossed into a deep dark well with no way out. I wonder how Joseph felt when his brothers threw him into a deep cistern? You may think, “Yeah Robby, as an encourager, what would you tell Joseph if you were at the top of the cistern looking down at him in the bottom dark?” I would tell him, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).” At that moment, Joseph would look at me with a disgusted expression and say, “At this moment, that doesn’t help me at all.” But I know it’s true. You see, I know the end of his story. I have the use of a spotlight to see well ahead into the future of Joseph’s life. If you’re in that dark place in your life, or you have suffered through the dark place, you need to use a spotlight to see what possible good will come out of what you’ve been through.
In my Bible studies this week, I came upon a very interesting observation. I’ve been reading several Old Testament stories, and as I read many of the stories, I would ask myself, “Why would God allow that to happen?” It is very obvious to a Bible reader that we do have an enemy. It is also very evident that our enemy plans and plots things to challenge our faith. If he’s not working on you with any challenges/trials, I would say be very concerned. It would be apparent that your faith does not concern him right now. He may have your faith just where he wants it to be.
The point of interest to me in the Bible stories is that God allowed the plots, plans, and events of the enemy. Isn’t it interesting that God didn’t stop one plot or plan against Jesus? There were several plots going on behind the scenes that included characters like Judas and Caiaphas. It is very obvious that the enemy will use people, events, and circumstances to cause hurt in order to challenge our faith. I know from experience that the enemy knows my weakest points of attack. The crazy things is, I can recognize the attack, know where it’s coming from, but still be affected by the scheme. What I can do is share testimony after testimony of people who lived through the attacks, remained faithful even though it was very difficult at the time, and came out for the better on the other end. God uses the plots and plans against you to fulfill His purpose and your destiny. I’m actually thinking about a dear family member right now that will tell you that she is glad she went through the attack in her life, because she is a much stronger person now. I have another “destiny” story to share with you about overcoming a plot/plan/event against me.
Exactly fifteen years ago this coming July 4, I was living just outside of Macon, Georgia. Tropical Storm Alberto moved up from the Florida panhandle and stalled over Macon. It rained like never before. I learned from that storm how easily the story of Noah could happen if God so ordained. Every roadway into Macon became flooded. I barely got my immediate family home from a short trip we planned for Atlanta before the interstate was shut down completely. For four days, I couldn’t drive to work because all roads were under water. The water rose so high that it completely flooded the water plant in Macon, and Macon remained without water for over one month. Fifteen years ago, my walk with the Lord was very casual. I knew He was up there somewhere, but I didn’t figure He had me in any plans. I figured He had bigger things to do than to use me in any way. My faith during this time was pretty non-existent.
The roads finally became passable, and I was able to make it into work. The city of Macon was virtually shut down without the availability of water. The National Guard was called in to set up water stations where people stood in line to get water bottles. You must realize, without water flowing into your house, you can’t wash you hands, wash your food/dishes/pans, take a bath, nor even flush your toilet. I would say that this was a pretty big “event.” Now I ask you, how can God turn such a challenging time in my life for any good? Remember, the Bible verse says that “in all things God works for the good.”
The company I worked for was in the business of delivering drums of oil to customers. We had delivery trucks set up for this specific task. We also had many empty drums that we used to fill with new oil. One day in my office, I “just happened,” (there’s that phrase again), to come up with the idea to help some of my customers by delivering a drum filled with water to their homes so that they may at least flush their toilets. The city of Warner Robins was just a few miles away, and they had water. I contacted their fire department and asked them if I could come by to fill drums with water to deliver to Macon homes. They were glad to help me. Now I was personally involved in the water delivery business. You see, my marketing skills said, “How can I help Robby in this situation?” I started delivering water to the homes of my best customers. I became their hero! Every day my job was to deliver water drums to my customers’ houses. My boss loved my idea, and the next thing I know, I was delivering drums of water to some of the finest homes in Macon, homes of bank presidents and local politicians who could help our company down the road.
Now keep reading, this is where the story gets good: One very hot July day near noon, I was doing my usual water delivery run. I had just rolled off a full drum of water and placed it at the front of a huge home of a local bank president. No one even came out to thank me. My spirit suddenly said to me, “Robby, you are only helping people who don’t really need help. What you are doing is not benefitting anyone but you and your company. Why don’t you try to take care of someone who is in real need for your service?” I can honestly say here that I hadn’t ever really noticed the Holy Spirit speaking to me before this day. I actually wondered where this thought came from. I was so focused on helping Robby, I didn’t consider helping anyone else. I pulled my truck out to Pierce Avenue in Macon, and I was thinking, “It’s lunch time, and I’m pretty hungry, but how can I help anyone other than the people I know?” These two thoughts were going over and over again in my mind: “Hungry now, help who? Hungry now, help who?”
At that moment , I looked up, and there before me across the street on Pierce Avenue was the Methodist Children’s Home of Macon. I had never been there before, but I had heard that this was a home for many children who either did not have parents, or their parents were abusive, and no one in their family wanted them. I thought, “I wonder if they could use drums of water?” I pulled across the street and parked my delivery truck directly in the front of the main office of the huge campus. I actually got a little excited as I headed to the front door. I thought, “These guys may be glad to see me.” I grabbed the front door and began to push, but to my disappointment the front door was locked. I knocked loudly and peered through the window, but nobody was inside. I sadly turned toward my truck and thought that maybe I could come back later, because I was getting pretty hungry for lunch. Just as I got to my truck, I heard a voice call out, “Can I help you?” I looked around and saw a young lady who was coming up the sidewalk. I said to her, “I don’t know. You see I have drums of water, and I wanted to know if you guys could use any of them.” She replied, “I don’t know, but I can take you to where the administrators are now.” I said, “OK,” and I followed her to another building. We walked into a very large campus cafeteria, and she escorted me over to a table full of adults. (There were children everywhere.) She introduced me to the campus minister, Rick Langford, and he stood and asked if he could help me. I said, “I don’t know, but I have a truck full of drums of water, and I wondered could you use them?” I could immediately see a tear in his eyes, and he hugged me. He said, “You are an angel sent by the Lord!” He continued, “We have been praying for the Lord to send us help for our children. They cannot flush their toilets in the dorms. The girls just about won’t even go to the bathrooms any more because of the smell. The boys have been carrying five gallon buckets all the way across the campus to the swimming pool just to get water to flush their toilets.” I replied, “I will set up a drum of water in front of each dorm and provide a drum pump and a bucket. Each dorm will be able to go to the front to get water each time to flush. I will also refill your drums each day until the water comes back on.” Pastor Rick hugged me again. It felt really good and different from any hug I had ever received before. He then said, “Won’t you sit down and have a free lunch on us?” I immediately got goose bumps! I thought, “WOW, I was just thinking about how I could help someone, and at the same time I was hungry to eat.” The Lord provided both in the same moment!
Almost exactly fifteen years ago today, I saw the very first obvious “Things Don’t Just Happen” in my life. This one event started me seeking Him. The verse following after “God works for the good of those who love him,” became evident in my life that day. The verse continues, “who have been called according to his purpose.” Can you now see how a terrible flood can be used for His purpose? My spiritual walk (calling) started that day, and it lead to you sitting here in front of your computer, or my next book, and you reading this word of encouragement today. I admit that my trials have probably not been as “fiery” as something that you have experienced, but there are MANY Bible stories that describe the death of a loved one, or a terrible hurt, where in the end, God’s purpose is fulfilled and carried on. I wish that I could shine that spotlight ahead for you to see His end fulfillment of His purpose in your trial, but I can’t. What I can do is shine the light that our Lord provides to us each day. My wonderful wife said it at the dinner table just last night. She said to my daughter, “We must live in the moment. Not worry about what’s ahead, nor fret over things in our past.” I encourage you to do just that. The Lord doesn’t give us a flashlight or a spotlight to view things far into our future, nor our past. He gives us a lamp. We must depend on Him to guide our steps. The Bible says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).” You may say, “Robby, where does the lamp’s light come from?” Turn to your Bible. There’s your lamp!
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path (Psalms 119:105).”
Robby
