When Hopes Don't Happen

This first thought is taken from one of my devotions this week. It was the inspiration for the direction of my Wednesday evening Bible class that I teach at FPB.

"In the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion." Psalm 27:5 NKJV

What do we do with our disappointments? We could do what Miss Haversham did. Remember her in Charles Dickens's Great Expectations? Jilted by her fiance just prior to the wedding, ... she closed all the blinds in the house, stopped every clock, left the wedding cake on the table to gather cobwebs, and wore her wedding dress until it hung in yellow decay around her shrunken form. Her wounded heart consumed her life.
We can follow the same course!

Or we can follow the example of the apostle Paul. His goal was to be a missionary in Spain... however God sent him to prison. Sitting in a Roman jail, Paul could have made the same choice as Miss Haversham, but he didn't. Instead he said, " As long as I'm here, I might as well write some letters." Hence your Bible has the Epistles to Philemon, the Philippians, the Colossians, and the Ephesians. (Taken from Grace for the Moment, by Max Lucado)

We each have not so good days and events we wish hadn't happened. We can chose to drag the disappointments around for the rest of our life or we can drop the baggage and allow God to carry what we can do nothing about. What we choose will say much about how we respond to others that walk through our life. I challenge you to not allow life's bitter moments to order the rest of your life.

What if the woman in the story below would have had you as her cab driver on that fateful last ride of her life. How would she have been greeted and cared for? The answer is in what you are lugging around everyday and if it is causing you  to view life and living through furrowed brows.

The Cab Ride

I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting a few minutes I walked to the door and knocked... 'Just a minute', answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90's stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940's movie.
By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

'Would you carry my bag out to the car?' she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman.She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.
She kept thanking me for my kindness. 'It's nothing', I told her.. 'I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated'.

'Oh, you're such a good boy', she said. When we got in the cab, she gave Me an address and then asked, 'Could you drive through downtown?' 'It's not the shortest way,' I answered quickly.. 'Oh, I don't mind,' she said. 'I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice'. I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. 'I don't have any family left,' she continued in a soft voice.. 'The doctor says I don't have very long.' I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.
'What route would you like me to take?' I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing. As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, 'I'm tired. Let's go now'. We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.

Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her. I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

'How much do I owe you?' she asked, reaching into her purse. 'Nothing,' I said 'You have to make a living,' she answered. 'There are other passengers,' I responded. Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly. 'You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,' she said. 'Thank you.' I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light.. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life..

I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?

On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life. We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID ~BUT~THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.

My Thoughts

I am so happy to go to church here at FPB and get to lead some wonderful people. I have a great job and am blessed in the fact that I get to fulfill my purpose every day. There is just a great peace in knowing you are doing what you were designed by God to do. It makes life seem really right. I heard a short interview today on the radio where the DJ asked a man what he did for a living. He remarked he was retired and how that every day was a Saturday. I must admit I thought yes, someday maybe that will be me. The DJ then asks the man what he did for a living. He replied he worked for a moving and storage company for 47 years. Yes, I know what you are thinking. Not a big time important job. But to the people who he moved and stored there furniture everyday for 47 years, he was a very important man. No his job doesn’t seem like a top of the company position but the fact that he got up every day and did what he was designed to do positioned him in the place where he can say, I have enjoyed life and still am. Do I think he ever had any bad days? Do I think he ever had any moments he just wanted to quit? Do I think he had any days he didn’t want to get up and move heavy stuff? Of course! No matter what you do in life, life sometimes weighs heavy and you just don’t want to get up and go at it again. But the fact is he must have got up anyway because one doesn’t get to say he retired after 47 years if you don’t get up every day and do what you are intended to do.


I love what I do. I don’t think I could be happy doing anything else. Is it all easy and no problems? No, not by any means! I have Mondays when I just want to resign and walk away. I have had days and weeks when I just wanted to get on a box car and become a drifter. (I know some of you think your Pastor needs therapy, I no doubt do.) Honestly, everyday may be a bed of roses but sometimes all I can seem to see and feel are the thorns. Anyone who tells you they have never wanted to quit and walk away is not being honest with you. (Really they need therapy) Life has a way of just getting heavy at times. If you and I want to be able to look back and see that our purpose really did matter we will have to get up and stay after it every day no matter how we feel. Then one day you can say that you worked at something and were a success after 47 years or longer. (In case you haven’t noticed years only pile up daily)

As I attended the funeral of G.A. Mangun, a man you lived for God faithfully for over 70 years and pastored and led in the same church for over 60, I was reminded again of the importance of living out everyday right. The only way one can have a legacy is to keep living everyday right. Get up every day and do the right thing. G.A. Mangun got up every day for 70 plus years and did the right thing. He worked and worked hard at his purpose, what God put him together to be and I might add he did it well. I know there will be people who will use the excuse that they are not G.A. Mangun. I agree God didn’t design you to be someone else; He designed you to be you. But God didn’t not make you, you so you could quit, not try, and simply make excuses everyday as to why you are not being a success in God’s design of you. The reason any of us don’t have the years piling up and us becoming all God planned on us being, is we are living with the mindset of the One Talented Servant. The story is found in Matthew 25. Let’s look at that story.

Several things stand out about this story that Jesus preached about.

• Remember this is a last day story, an end of time event. What we do with what we have been given is a Heaven or Hell issue. Read verse 30.

• The One Talented Servant was given one talent because the Lord knew and believed that was all he was capable of doing. It was given because of their abilities. Verse 15

• The Lord was the one who gave the talents. It was His and not the servants but He expected the servants to handle what was His well. What we have been given is not ours but we are stewards of the gifts and purpose of God. We will have to give an account one day as to how we did.

• The One Talented Servant hid his in an unproductive place. Why? Two reason I can think of.

 He must have been some-what lazy and didn’t want to commit daily to the task of production.

 He tells the Lord when he was asks to give an account that he was afraid. They only reason he would be afraid of his Lord was he lacked a relationship with Him. We know the Lord was not an abusive leader because the other two didn’t deal with the fear. The simple reason the one talented servant was fearful was he didn’t have a relationship with his Lord that would give him faith in what the Lord had entrusted him with. When we don’t remain faithful it’s because we lack a relationship. Again relationships are an everyday thing. One doesn’t just try to be faithful a day or two and see how it works out, they get up every day and are faithful because they have a relationship.

 Another reason he might have been afraid was because of his lack of production. Yes, on the day you and I have to give an account this is a good reason to be afraid.

• One last thing that stands out to me is the fact that the One Talented Servant could have grown his talents to the place of the other two’s beginning if he would have worked at it every day. I have heard people say they are a one talented person. If this is true there must not be any growth. Time and being faithful to ones purpose daily will cause growth. The One Talented Servant could have easily become a two talented servant or more if he would have gotten up every day and went after his purpose and was faithful.

If we want to be a success we have to understand it’s an everyday event. Get up and be faithful every day. Then the next thing you know the years have started to pile up.

 Let me end by saying how great the week end was. Sunday evening’s Kid’s Church was something else. WOW! The altars were full of kids praying to Jesus at the end of the sermon. James’ message was great! I have never seen someone fly a live bumble bee on a string while they preached. Brad and Heather, you and your team did a wonderful job, I love the way the children’s team works together and all they accomplish. Way to go to all you. I am so happy you go to church here at FPB!

 The top of the excitement list goes to AJ Hennigan and Braden Morrow who received the Holy Ghost at Crusaders Camp. Way to go guys!

I hope all this didn’t sound like a ramble today. It just was my thoughts and what’s on my mind today and the last several days. I plan on living everyday faithfully and doing the right thing. If I do one day when God is finished with me here on this earth I can stand before Him and give an account of how I lived out every day for Him and doing His purpose that He tucked in my life.

I challenge you not to just lay there and hope for the best. It will not happen. Get up, walk for God, be faithful and take care of the wonderful talents God has put in your life. Do it every day, the next thing you know there are years of doing the right thing piling up.