Our Finest Hour

Tonight I when I got home my wife said something profound to me. First, she asked how my day had gone. Simple question, so I gave a simple answer. "Rough," I said, "It was pretty rough."

Why rough?

Change is coming at me from every angle. People who I care about are changing careers. People who I care about are going through difficult medical trials. I am finding myself in a strange season of doubting my ability. On top of that, one of my boys broke his arm, while another has been recovering from a serious bacterial infection in his knee. The church I pastor is in a season of transition and uncertainty. Which is completely normal in the life of a church, but the devil will always look to gain a foothold when uncertainty is in the air, and that raises a fear factor. And then when I thought things couldn't get weirder, I was eating inside a McDonalds when a car lost control in the parking lot and rammed into my unoccupied vehicle, badly damaging the rear of my car. No worries though, the guy didn't have insurance! (sarcasm intended)

So yeah, I thought, "Rough," was a pretty simple and descriptive response to my wife's question about my day. She responded to my depressing response by saying, "Well, with all due respect, I believe this will be our finest hour."

That's a good word, Sarah! She said she felt like God gave that word to her, but He meant it for both of us, and boy did I need to hear it.

My wife knows that I love movie lines. And she had just hit me with one of my favorites from the movie Apollo 13. When Astronaut Jim Lovell and the crew of Apollo 13 were faced with almost certain death, the workers inside mission control began to brace themselves for bad news. In fact, one of the higher ups in mission control commented, "This could be the greatest disaster in NASA's history."

Upon hearing this, the head of mission control for Apollo 13, Gene Kranz, turned to the man who spoke of disaster and said, "With all due respect, I believe this will be our finest hour!"

You can watch the clip here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMMGhH_cR-8

You see, uncertainty and trials are really just God's way of showing us that He can overcome anything. God will intentionally allow you to enter difficult seasons because he wants you to see how He can pull you through that season. The testimony is not that you were in a trial, but that God saved you from it when there was nothing you could do. It was His power, not yours that saved you.

Throughout history people have viewed trials and struggles as God's punishment or judgement, but the Bible clearly says that we should consider it pure JOY when trials come.

James 1:2-4 (NIV)
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything

Here's a truth I can count on. If the devil thinks I am worthy of being attacked, then God believes I am worthy of being defended. 

And when God is the one doing the defending I have to believe that the finest hours are just ahead. When I look at my life in that way I will begin to understand that all the trials and struggles are  making me stronger. They are teaching me and growing me. I will consider that pure joy because God is fighting on my behalf!

So the next time fear and uncertainty hit you because of overwhelming trials, look them straight in the eye and say, "Disaster, you have no place here. Because with all due respect, I believe God is going to make this our finest hour."

A Holy Spirit Moment

There are times when God and I have a moment. He speaks into my life, I am blessed by it, and I keep the moment between us. Like in the movie Stand By Me, when Gordy sees the deer he says, "I kept that moment for myself. I've never spoken about it. Until now."

I have moments like that with God.

However, today I had a Holy Spirit inspired moment that needs to be shared. I wrestled with whether or not I should keep this to myself, but I believe so strongly in encouraging people that I felt others needed to read this.

So here goes:

Thursday is my day to finalize the message and plans for everything that will take place at New Hope Church on Sunday morning. I have the Scriptures and general idea of the message in place before then, but Thursday is my day to put everything God has placed on my heart in a final draft. There are some days when this process goes well, and there are days when getting the words on the screen is a challenge.

Today the words flowed...It was effortless. I felt connected to God in a special way, and I am confident that the words will touch someone's heart on Sunday morning. I even posted about it earlier on Facebook because I was so excited about it.

One of the Scriptures that inspired me was Galatians 6:2.

Galatians 6:2 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

The idea that God calls us into community with one another, and that we are to not be isolated and separate from one another, but to help each other and carry each others burdens, was a breathe of fresh air. This is how it's supposed to be. So when I see someone who has a need, if I'm able, God calls me to meet it. If I see someone who needs encouragement, God calls me to encourage them. It's really that simple. That's the law of Christ. 

With that, the message was finished. The Sunday planning was finished. I had a few hours to kill before worship band practice. (I get to play this week!) So I thought I'd go for a run. 

During my run I was listening to one of my new favorite worship tunes. The song Rising Sun from All Sons and Daughters. Oh my goodness, this song hits me right in the feels. As soon as the guitar kicks in I have tears filling my eyes, and the Holy Spirit filling my heart. Seriously, today it was too much. I had to stop my run so I could take a moment and sit on a rock for a while.  

The sky was blue and beautiful. The sun was bright in the sky (still is). And I'm telling you, God and I had this amazing moment. Listen guys, I've had a tough week. I'm just like everyone else. Even though I'm a pastor I still have doubts about how good a job I'm doing. I still worry about raising four kids, being a good husband and father. It can stress me out. I'm human (the secret's out).

God knows all of that about me...and today he just filled up my heart with this moment of worship. It was so encouraging...a true Holy Spirit moment. I truly felt like God was saying, "I got you, man!"

It was beautiful. 

As I was driving home, I decided to stop at the McDonald's drive thru for a drink. A young man was working the window and he handed me my order. I was immediately struck by how nice this young man was. He had a great big smile. And I don't know what it was, but I was really impressed by his positive approach to his job. I pulled away and began to enjoy my tasty Hi-C beverage. 

But as I drove down the street the Holy Spirit began to speak directly to my heart. It wasn't an audible voice or anything like that, but it was a definite tugging on my shirt to do something. "Turn around and go back to that drive thru. Tell that young man some encouraging words."

At first I didn't know what to do. Was I seriously about to turn around and go back to the drive thru window? I would look like a crazy person. But again, I felt like God was saying, "You don't know what that young man is going through right now. Go and encourage him!"

So I went back to McDonald's.

I pulled up to the window and the young man was still there. The conversation went like this...

Me: Hey buddy, what's your name?

Him: It's Mike (not really, but we'll call him Mike)

Me: Well Mike, I just came through here a few minutes ago and God put something on my heart that I believe He wants you to know. You're a good guy! The way you had a smile on your face and were so positive and nice to me. You really brightened my day, Mike. I want to thank you and I wish you the best day!

Mike: Hey, thank you man. I appreciate that!

I drove away.

I don't know why God had me do that...but I know in my heart that God wanted that young man to know that about himself. Maybe he was carrying a burden that I don't know about and he needed some encouragement. I don't know, but God knows. 

I share this story with you because I am thankful for the tugging on my heart that the Holy Spirit does. Today has been filled with it. And I believe there is a connection between all of the God moments that I had today. They all culminated in me meeting Mike and sharing with him something that God wanted him to know. I believe there are times when God puts it on our hearts to do things like this, and all too often we just keep on driving. Don't do that. Turn around if you have to. BE willing to BE used! 

The more we can be an encouragement to one another, the better...

Josh

Inspiration 101

Today I sat down to lunch with a guy who always energizes my spirit. Whenever I need a pick me up I give this guy a shout and say, “Hey, it’s time to meet up.” Here’s the funny thing, he doesn’t lift my spirit because he tells me how good I am, or how great a job he thinks I’m doing. He motivates me because I ask him about the things he has going on and his responses inspire me. In fact, I often walk away from our conversations ready to do more in my community and more for my family. I may have walked into lunch spiritually drained, but I’m walking away full.

I think this is how the disciples felt around Jesus. He was constantly inspiring them to see the good they could do, and I’m sure they often aspired to more because of it. Yes they failed constantly, but just being around Jesus gave them a sense of new spiritual power that they could tap in to. Those three years that the disciples had Jesus were formative years of growing, maturing and preparation that set the groundwork for a life of mission after Jesus ascended into heaven.

As I was driving back to work I asked myself, “Why don’t I surround myself with people like that more often?” God knows we let enough people come into our lives who drain us. Jesus had people around him who tried to drain him with negativity as well. He referred to them as a “brood of vipers.” He called them that because there is a saying that is as true today as it was 2,000 years ago, and that is, “Ain’t nobody got time for that!”

With all that in mind, I have decided to make a purposeful decision to seek out people who inspire me to do more for Jesus. I say “purposeful” because I believe we need to be intentional about finding people who push us and motivate us. People who show us how simple it is to be the hands and feet of Jesus. They shine light upon a need that has been sitting under our noses, and their passion motivates us to jump and shout, “I can help!”

You know what, something else just occurred to me. Maybe we could all make it a point to encourage others and actually BE the one who is inspiring others. Then nobody would be a drain. Now THAT would be inspiring.

Pastor Josh