Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 16 – No. 3414 August 23, 2014
Thought for the week: "Only in the darkness can you see the stars." – Martin Luther King
While taking a routine vandalism report at an elementary school, I was interrupted by a little girl about 6 years old. Looking up and down at my uniform, she asked, "Are you a cop?"
"Yes," I answered and continued writing the report.
"My mother said if I ever needed help, I should ask the police. Is that right?"
"Yes, that's right," I told her.
"Well, then," she said as she extended her foot toward me, "would you tie my shoe?"
"When my daughter was a toddler, I used to take her to a park not far from our apartment. One day as she was playing in a sandbox, an ice-cream salesman approached us. I purchased her a treat, and when I turned to give it to her, I saw her mouth was full of sand. Where I had intended to put a delicacy, she had put dirt.
Did I love her with dirt in her mouth? Absolutely. Was she any less of my daughter with dirt in her mouth? Of course not. Was I going to allow her to keep the dirt in her mouth? No way. I loved her right where she was, but I refused to leave her there. I carried her over to the water fountain and washed out her mouth. Why? Because I love her.
God does the same for us. He holds us over the fountain. "Spit out the dirt, honey," our Father urges. "I've got something better for you." And so he cleanses us of filth; immorality, dishonesty, prejudice, bitterness, greed. We don't enjoy the cleansing; sometimes we even opt for the dirt over the ice cream. "I can eat dirt if I want to!" we pout and proclaim. Which is true—we can. But if we do, the loss is ours. God has a better offer."
"First I was dying to finish high school and start college.
And then I was dying to finish college and start working.
And then I was dying to marry and have children.
And then I was dying for my children to grow old enough
for school so I could return to work.
And then I was dying to retire.
And now, I am dying ... and suddenly I realize I forgot to live."
Jerry Bronsma told how he once shared a painful emotional wound with a friend.
As I shared, he said with amazement, she began to cry. "Nobody ever cried for my pain before," explained Jerry. Then he said this: "Her tears healed me a lot more than if she had read many Bible verses with me or even if she had just prayed. It made me feel she understood what I was feeling and that my distress was reasonable."
Too often we try to stop people from crying. We grab a box of tissues to dry the water as quickly as possible. But tears are a gift of God. When tears flow, toxins are emptying out of our system and well-being is enhanced. Tears express our feelings powerfully in ways mere words cannot. Words often conceal—tears are honest.
In Biblical times families would bring in gifted weepers to prime the pump of tears in the others. They would stand and wail, causing others to weep. Tears were recognized as needed and appropriate— not a weakness or an unwanted or embarrassing bother.
So Jerry Bronsma recognized this rare gift when his friend wept with him. Her tears gave him permission to cry more. Plus her tears spoke deeply of her empathy and compassion for him. Her tears were a profound message of care and kindness, too rare today.
I once heard the chairman and CEO of a huge public company tell a roomful of ambitious, hardworking, dedicated executives that if he had to do it all over again, he would have spent more time with his family. That's not news, but to Type-A personalities, it's easier said than done.
David L. Weatherford's poem "Slow Dance" sends the message in a particularly compelling way:
Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round
Or listened to rain slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight,
Or gazed at the sun fading into the night?
You better slow down, don't dance so fast,
Time is short, the music won't last.
Do you run through each day on the fly?
When you ask, "How are you?" do you hear the reply?
When the day is done, do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores running through your head?
You better slow down, don't dance so fast,
Time is short, the music won't last.
Ever told your child, "We'll do it tomorrow,"
And in your haste not seen his sorrow?
Ever lost touch, let a good friendship die,
'Cause you never had time to call and say hi?
You better slow down, don't dance so fast,
Time is short, the music won't last.
When you run so fast to get somewhere,
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It's like an unopened gift thrown away.
Life is not a race, so take it slower,
Hear the music before your song is over.
The question isn't whether this makes sense to you. It's what are you going to do about it, and when are you going to start?
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"And I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none."1
"Down the streets of Portsmouth, two hundred years ago, walked a sailor with one arm, one eye, a persistent state of nerves, and unable to tread a ship's deck without being seasick. Indeed he would probably have been in a home for incurables, were not his name Admiral Lord Nelson. The man's spirit drove the flesh. The point is, when weighing the characteristics of a leader, remember a stout spirit can drive a weak body a long way."2
More than two thousand years ago God informed Ezekiel, the prophet, that he was looking for a man to "stand in the gap" to save the land. God, today, is still looking for men and women who will stand in the gap to help bring people to Jesus; for without him perishing souls are lost forever. God uses ordinary people to fulfill his goals on earth—the major qualification is not our strength but having a stout spirit and being available for God to use.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, in spite of my inadequacies, I come to You and am available for service. Please make me usable and use me to stand in the gap to help bring the lost to Jesus. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus's name, amen."
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