The Journey

I hate waxing cars. In fact, I don’t even do it. I know of guys who will spend their entire Saturday polishing and waxing their cars. My next door neighbor is that kind of guy. He tells me that he is in “love” with his cars and this is his way of taking care of them. I’m serious; he really “loves” his cars. He even has names for them but I didn’t ask.
Do you know who else hates waxing cars? Daniel Larusso. Who? Daniel Larusso. You may know him better as Daniel-son, from the “Karate Kid” movies. It’s the classic story of a teenage boy trying to fit into a new environment and how he deals with the bullies in his school. One night, he is jumped by a group of guys from his school that happens to be well versed in Karate. It’s on this night though that Daniel is saved by the manager of his apartment complex who just so happens to be even better versed in this same art. A friendship is born between Daniel and Mr. Miyagi.
The training method set forth by Mr. Miyagi is unique and one that does not make sense to Daniel. Day after day, Mr. Miyagi has young Daniel-son wax his cars, sand his floors, paint his fence, and paint the house. Day after day Daniel asks his teacher when he is going to learn Karate and day after day it seems to fall on deaf ears. Do you ever feel that way? You ask God over and over and he never seems to answer? One night Daniel finally reached his limit and after giving Mr. Miyagi a piece of his mind he decides to walk out. Mr. Miyagi, seeing the frustration in his young pupil, decides to provide a great teaching moment. Standing face to face he asks Daniel to show him, sand the floors, wax the cars, paint the fence, and paint the house. Daniel demonstrates these motions until Mr. Miyagi is satisfied. It is then that the teacher begins to test the student by throwing a series of punches and kicks that Daniel blocks by using the motions that he has been learning. You’ve heard of the expression; “the eyes tell the story?” In that moment, Daniel realizes that everything that felt pointless finally had purpose.
Every one of you reading this article has a calling on your life. And every one of you will go through some seasons where you feel what you are doing is pointless and has no eternal value. You, like Daniel, will want to walk out of that season. If I could encourage you to do one thing it is to stay the course and keep your eyes on Jesus. You see, Mr. Miyagi had to continually tell Daniel to keep his eyes on him and to focus. Daniel had learned much but there was still much more to learn.
At the end of the movie, and in true Hollywood form, Daniel ends up beating the reigning champion in the final match by using an unorthodox “crane” technique. It looks absolutely silly but it does the trick.
You are called to do great and mighty things for God in your life.
You have to be willing to sand the floors, wax the cars, paint the fence, paint the house, and always keep your eyes focused on Jesus! There is a purpose in the waxing! Your time will come and all of life’s adventures will have been for a purpose.

It’s been said that children can detect when their parents are having a bad day. Beyond the obvious outward signs of yelling, kicking, or screaming kids can assess the subtle inward struggles that mom or dad might be dealing with.

We had a family dog that lived to be thirteen. Allie had to be put to sleep in April of 2013. My wife and I bought her just three months into our marriage. One of the things that Allie learned to not like about me was when I would sit down to play Madden on the Playstation. I’m not sure if it was the sound of the controllers hitting the wall after a loss or me screaming at the imaginary referees in the game that she did not like. Either way the sound of her paws walking up the steps when I turned the game system on was quite funny. Of course that was early on in my gaming career. Now I just hold the controller tightly in my hands and grunt at the T.V. when I lose. Perhaps I need to lay on a couch and speak to someone about this.

My son loves the Lord. He is a sensitive soul. He is gentle and kind. He often puts the needs of others before himself. He’s just like his mother. I’d like to think that we have done a good job in raising him to be a young man after God’s own heart. We pray and read the Bible with him every night. Hearing him pray is the greatest sound that I hear. I truly believe God loves to listen to the simplistic and innocent prayers of his children. The younger ones, especially.

Early on in our sons life we have surrounded him with Scripture, literally. My wife would write Bible verses on paper and place them around his crib. As he got older we replaced those papers with state of the art posters complete with pictures. He has about eight of them that are on the walls around his bed.

There is one in particular that my son chose to show to my wife when she was having a bad day. She took a picture of it and saved it to her phone. Just a few days later I came home from work in a bad mood. He must have heard me speaking to my wife about my day because the very next morning I get a text from my wife letting me know that my son wanted to text me the same picture that he had shown her when she was having a bad day.

“I think daddy needs this. He is having a tough time at Subway.”

What did the sign say? “God makes the rough places smooth” (Isaiah 40:4). The verse says, “Every valley shall be raised up,
    every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
    the rugged places a plain.”

I believe that God spoke through my son that day.

EVERY valley shall be raised up! You won’t have to walk through it forever. It’s only for a season.

EVERY mountain and hill made low! You will rise above your circumstances. You will walk on the waves.

EVERY bit of rough ground will be made level! You will be able to walk without stumbling. Your steps will be unhindered.

EVERY rough place will be made smooth! You will be able to come out of where you are more refined. You will always be in His hands.

Sometimes God needs to sand some of our rough edges down. Those seasons are uncomfortable, monotonous, and predictable.

Sometimes God just shows up and brings the calm in the midst of the storm and just makes it all smooth. He speaks and it happens.

Either way He will honor His word and in due time He will smooth it all out for us. We just have to hang in there and have some childlike faith!

Have you ever gone through a season in your life where you felt emotionally drained and spiritually challenged? The finances aren’t financing, the relationships aren’t relating, the jobs aren’t working, and your spiritual life doesn’t feel very spiritual? Just enduring one of these areas can be a challenge but if you combine them all together it provides the ingredients for a volcanic eruption of emotions. Psalm 62:6 says, “Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.“ But, there are times and seasons in our lives where it feels as if we are being shaken to our very core. The answers aren’t answering. Even the questions seem to be questioning. Where do you go? Where do you turn? What do you do?

In the spring of 2013 I made the decision to resign from a church to pursue an endeavor with another pastor in another state. There weren’t any promises made or guarantees on the other end. Just come on up and see what happens. My wife and I would have to secure work outside of the church, find a place to live, and find a suitable school for my son to attend. It was a major risk to take in a normal situation but ours was not normal. My wife’s teaching contract at a private school was not renewed for the 2012-2013 school year which left her unemployed. She was able to secure a part time job working a few evenings at the local mall. It was something, but it wasn’t enough. On top of that she was on the last leg of finishing up her masters in teaching degree from Liberty University. I had the job security so there was much for us to consider and pray about.

On Sunday, April 28, 2013 the announcement was made to our church. We would be leaving at the end of the summer. On Friday, April 26, 2013 our dog of 13 years was put to sleep. The X-rays told the story. She had cancer. We were not off to a good start. We all mourned but I have never been one to take the news of death very well. This began the process of my emotional drain.

Once the decision to resign was made there was no going back. Within just two weeks my position was filled by a wonderful couple who would be gradually taking over my duties throughout the course of the summer.

We immediately began to take prayer drives around this area. Resumes were put out in all corners of this town and surrounding communities. We were given leads from members of the local church that we would be calling home.

Nothing. We drove and prayed some more. Nothing. We put out more resumes. Nothing. My wife got the call for a part time substitute teaching position. We knew that we could not move or even live on that income but we gave God the “chance” to move anyway. Nothing. I was willing to work wherever I could find work but I never received one phone call. Not one. Nothing.

As the summer progressed it became clear that this was not going to work out. Other opportunities did arise, however. I was interviewed for a Campus Pastor role at National Community Church. It was put on hold. I was interviewed for an Executive Pastor role at a church in Lancaster County, PA. It was put on hold. I was interviewed by a church in New York for a role that would eventually not be needed. I began to fell like the Kirby vacuum cleaner salesman. Doors kept being slammed in my face.

What had I done? Here we are with BOTH of us now without jobs. “God? A little help here would be appreciated!!”

*Part of the back story to all of this began in 2007. I was laid off from a job that I had worked for three years. I could not find work in my hometown so we had to move in with my in-laws for a season. I secured a job at a chimney company which only last two weeks before being laid off, again. I remained unemployed for a few weeks until I secured a full time substitute teacher position. Eight months after moving in with my in-laws we decided to move back to my hometown where my wife secured a teaching position at a private school and I went back to work for the company that had laid me off in 2007. This was now June of 2008. In November of 2009, my hours were reduced and I was eventually laid off again in the summer of 2010. It was in the fall of 2010 that I landed at this church that I would resign from in the spring of 2013. With my wife’s job layoff from the private school in the summer of 2012 it had meant that we endured a total of four layoffs in just five years! This is life. It happens.

At the end of the summer of 2013 we were sitting on the beach of Ocean City, NJ just watching my son enjoy the sun, waves, and sand. We had just endured a whirlwind of a summer with my resignation, prayer drives, job searches, and closed doors. Even though we both were without jobs there was an inner peace that could only come through the battles fought throughout this journey. I’m not perfect. I still had some waves of fear and worry. I still do. But, like Peter I’m getting out of the boat everyday attempting to walk on those waves while keeping my eyes fixed on Jesus. The waves are real and some days are a little more wet than others. The first part of Proverbs 24:16 says, “for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again.”

At the end of the evening on that summer night in Jersey my wife got a call from a local school principal. The very job that my wife had applied for and was turned down for was now being offered to her. She would begin working as a teacher’s aide at a local elementary school for the 2013/2014 school year. It just so happened to be at the same school where my son was attending. This position would also enable her to finish up her student teaching and then graduate in the summer of 2014 with a masters in teaching from Liberty University! She is now a full time teacher at a local elementary school. She was interviewed around 2:00pm on a Friday afternoon and received her job offer at 5:30pm…ON THE SAME AFTERNOON. God is good!!

I landed at Subway. The fall of 2013 was a very, very dark time for me. It was an emotional low point for me. My emotions continued to be drained and my faith continued to be challenged. Working in a fast food place is not beneath me. I would clean toilets if I had to in order to take care of my family. But, I wondered if I would be stuck here forever. It seemed as if no one wanted to hire me for any sort of pastoral role in their church. I don’t know why. Perhaps it was due to past decisions, I presumed. That notion was quickly shot down by a variety of friends, peers, and my wife. I’m not the second coming of anyone but I have much to offer. Closed doors meant rejection to me. And there weren’t any other ones that I could see to knock on. Truly, my only hope is in the Lord. And to inject the timeless poet, Bob Dylan, I was literally “knocking on heaven’s door.”

Just before landing at Subway in the fall of 2013, a friend of mine that I had not spoken to in almost fourteen years sent me this message that he believed the Lord had for me. I believe it to be true:

I feel the word God has for you is that, even though the season He is taking you through right now is scary and you can’t fully see what is going on or where God is taking you in ministry, that it is only a season. You need to embrace this season and dive into God like never before. He wants this time of waiting and preparation to be a time where you come to experience God and His presence like never before. Years from now, when you look back on this time, You will see it as one of the best times of your life because you walked even deeper with God and lived a deeper level of faith than you ever experienced, and because you learned what it really means to rely on God and follow Him without knowing where He is going. You will come through this season even more prepared and equipped to fulfill the calling God has on your life.

This was both powerful and timely for me. A friend recently told me that people take the “subway” to get from one place to another. It was said tongue-in-cheek but it was sprinkled with some truth.

Speaking of truth, do you want to know the real truth? I was wrong in my decision to resign from my former church. It wasn’t the fact of having any current hindsight. It was the fact that I had some reservations all along and because I wanted “more” I decided to manipulate and manage things on my own and all it did was create a mangled mess. It was my fault. But God is still in our tangled messes. He is still on the throne. I lost thousands of dollars in income when I chose to resign and ultimately land at Subway. THOUSANDS of dollars. Part of my drained emotions in the fall of 2013 stemmed from an indescribable feeling of loneliness and failure as a husband and father. I could not provide for my family and as a man I felt a terrible sense of hopelessness. Our combined income was less than what I was making alone at my former church. We probably qualified for state and government assistance. It was bad. It was ugly. We called upon Jehovah Jireh!

The one thing that I can say with complete confidence is that we have remained faithful throughout this entire journey. From 2007 until today we have endured a number of job changes, faced many closed doors, prayed ourselves to sleep, lost some sleep, and have asked God every question in the book. Our marriage is stronger. My son is both comical and sensitive in his love for God. My wife is living her dream as a teacher and I’m still believing in mine to come true. Should I dare say that I’m “livin’ on a prayer?”:)

So, I have to end on a positive note…

We have never missed a rent payment. We have never been in collection. We have never missed a tithe. We have always had food on the table, clothes on our backs, cars to drive, and a home to sleep in. I have no idea how we will ever be able to pay back our student loans or even if I will ever see the ROI (return of investment) on them. But, we are blessed and I am thankful!

God has provided in the form of Pentecostal handshakes, checks in the mail, cards, letters, emails, texts, phone calls and of course the all important Facebook messages. He has sustained us. He is always with us. He will never leave us. We have never asked for anything but God has known when we have needed any thing.

On paper I don’t have any hope. My inbox is not flooded with pastors wanting to hire me. But, my hope isn’t on paper, it is in God. Joseph was faithful and in God’s timing the door to his prison flung wide open!

Revelation 3:7-8 says, “These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. ⁸ I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”

My emotions have been drained and my faith has been challenged. But one thing that I know to be true is that God always honors His word. May these parting words be of some encouragement to you on your journey as they have been for me. “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6.

In the summer of 1991 I had the privilege of going on a missions trip to St. Croix in the Virgin Islands. Yes, I know, someone had to suffer for Jesus on this trip! Why not me? Further inland, behind the blue/green ocean and white, sandy beaches were people who needed to know the love of Christ. We did the “normal” missions trip stuff like door to door witnessing, sidewalk Sunday school for the kids, puppet shows, and human videos. And thanks to my friend, Jon Reichert, it is a trip that I can view at anytime on my television.

One of the great things about going on a missions trip is that you get to enjoy some of the scenery for a day or two. One day in particular we had the opportunity to go snorkeling. This was a first for me. To be honest with you I hate being too far out on the ocean. I blame the movie “Jaws” for my fear of the deep, dark sea! But, I was amongst many friends and I could see the bottom so it felt fairly safe.

After putting on my flippers, mask and snorkel we were advised to spend a few minutes swimming around the boat so we could get used to our new equipment. Once we felt comfortable enough we could venture out further and take in the view below at Buck Island Reef National Park. Wow!! My friends and I were so awestruck by the beauty down below that we did not realize just how far out the current was taking us. It wasn’t until we noticed that the water went from being clear to a deep, dark blue that we had somehow gone past the end of the park. I have to admit that I was a little scared. Okay, I was really scared!! The music to “Jaws” began to play in my head and I swam as fast as I could back to the boat. However, once I re-entered the crystal clear water I began to feel safe again.

I wonder how many of us are content to have snorkeling faith? It’s easy for us to float along enjoying the view that we can easily see. But, it’s an entirely different thing to become a scuba diver of faith. I believe that there is a point where we all get our feet wet in our faith. We step out into some calm waters and enjoy the safety of knowing the boat is near and that we can see the bottom. But, as time goes on in our journey of following Christ I believe that we need to ditch our snorkeling gear and learn to become scuba divers. Going deep into the unknown waters is very scary. There has to be an absolute trust in our guide. There are many legitimate fears to overcome. I have never been scuba diving but I have friends who have and what they see far below the surface they say are some amazing sights that you cannot see while skimming the surface in snorkeling gear.

God is calling all of us to go deeper. He is calling us to trust Him. Going deeper with God is the only way that we will see the amazing things He wants to show us. Scuba divers are still finding new species of fish all of the time. The deeper that they go the more they discover.

The deeper that you and I go in our walk with Christ the more that we discover about Him. There is no end to His beauty and there is no end to Him. There are greater things to be done. There are greater miracles to be seen. There is more greatness to God than we can ever imagine.

Will you snorkel or will you scuba dive?

“Let It Rain”

Let it rain, let it rain.
Open the floodgates of Heaven
[Repeat]

The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad
Let the distance shores rejoice
Clouds and thick darkness surround him
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne
A fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side
His lightning lights up the world
The earth sees and trembles
The mountains melt like wax before the Lord
Before the Lord of all the earth
The Heavens proclaim His righteousness
And all peoples will see His Glory

We want to see Your Glory, God!
Do you want to see His Glory?
Lift your voices, lift your hands!

Let it rain, let it rain.
Open the floodgates of Heaven
[Repeat]

Michael W. Smith

The floodgates of heaven literally came pouring down on the earth during the days of Noah. The Bible says that for forty days and forty nights it rained and poured and old Noah snored. The last part isn’t in the Bible. I added it for humor. I hope it was funny. If not just laugh anyway, it will make me feel better. And you just might need to laugh as well.

After spending many years building this ark and enduring the continued scoffing from those around him the Bible says in Genesis 7:5, “So Noah did everything as the Lord commanded him.” It’s important to note that Noah built the ark exactly how God told him to, not missing any detail or taking any shortcuts. Now that this part of the work is complete he then continues to follow all of God’s instructions and move his family and the animals into this enormous ship. It was a step of faith for him. He was entering into to the unknown.

The Bible says that the flood-waters covered the earth for one hundred and fifty days! But in Genesis 8:1 the Bible says, “But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and livestock with him in the boat.”

Exactly five months from the time that the flood began the boat finally came to rest on top of a mountain range. Two and a half months later other mountain peaks became visible. We are now at seven and a half months! This is far longer than Gilligan’s three hour tour! It wasn’t until just over one year that they were able to finally leave the boat.

We tend to only think of the forty days and forty nights. We don’t think in terms a year long journey.

When Noah finally did step out of the boat the first thing that he did was give praise to God (Genesis 8:20).

You might be in a rainy season. It’s not a sprinkle, a drizzle, or even a steady rain, but it’s an absolute storm. There are three lessons we can learn from Noah:

1. Know God and follow His commands

2. Know that God has not forgotten you

3. Know how to give praise to God during and after the rains have come.

The rainy season can be a refining time in your life if you let it. The rainy season can carry you from one place to another if you will just trust God to carry you there. The rainy season will give you a chance to give God all of the glory for the great things He has done!!

So, let it rain! let it rain! Open the flood gates of heaven!

2013 was what my wife and I jokingly describe as being an “unlucky” year. We lost loved ones, pets, jobs, and at times we lost some hope. We began the year like we do every one, believing that the best is yet to come. But we ended the year with more questions than answers. So, once again we start off another new year believing that the best is still yet to come.

In 1999 I was a Senior at Valley Forge Christian College. One of my classmates, Nicole Sewell (Fairchild), spoke in chapel one day and I remember a story that she shared called, “Keep Your Fork.” Here is the story:

There was a young woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. So as she was getting her things in order, she contacted her pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in.

Everything was in order and the pastor was preparing to leave when the young woman suddenly remembered something very important to her.

“There’s one more thing,” she said excitedly. 

“What’s that?” came the pastor’s reply.

“I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand,” she told him.

 The pastor stood looking at the young woman, not knowing quite what to say.

“That surprises you, doesn’t it?” the young woman asked.

“Well, to be honest, I’m puzzled by the request,” said the pastor.

The young woman explained. “My grandmother once told me a story that I never forgot and I have tried to pass along its message to those I love and those who are in need of encouragement.  Here’s her story:

“In all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, ‘Keep your fork.’ It was my favorite part because I knew something better was coming . .  . like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful and with substance!’

So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder, “What’s with the fork? Then I want you to tell them, “Keep your fork . . . the best is yet to come.”

You have to believe that the best is STILL yet to come. What else is there to believe? You may have lost a child, a loved one, a job, a marriage, a relationship, a dream, a goal, or a desire but what you haven’t lost is a God who walks beside you day and night. You are never alone, even when you feel like it. Your fork represents the dreams that have yet to be realized. You will have another child. You will love again. You will get a better job. You will write that book, take that trip, finish that degree, and leave a legacy in this world. Hold on tight to that fork!

The best is STILL yet to come!

2 Corinthians 4:16-18  So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

I’m a fan of the “Rocky” movies. Most of us are. We like the thought of the underdog overcoming all odds to win. It resonates within each one of us. We’ve all had a moment or two where we too have overcome and have stood victorious. Rocky is you. Rocky is me.

My favorite movie of the series is the last one, “Rocky Balboa.” It’s much more than Sly Stallone realizing that he didn’t do us any favors with making “Rocky V.” Sly made up for it and sent out our hero the way that he should go out…a winner and loved by his fans. What I personally enjoyed about this movie were the little, life lessons that Rock taught to those around him. Rocky was a very raw fighter early on in his career. He needed someone to believe in him. Mickey did. He trained Rocky and showed him the ropes. He saw in Rocky what no one else did…a champion. Rocky is older now. He’s fought the battles. He has his scars and those scars tell a story. Now, the fighter becomes the trainer. He has a son who doesn’t want to fight. But, Rocky knows that, like him, his son just needs someone to believe in him. Only this time his son is facing a far more dangerous opponent than Clubber Lang or Ivan Drago. His son is fighting the battle of life and Rock knows that his son can win.

Rocky says, “I’d hold you up to say to your mother, “this kid’s gonna be the best kid in the world. This kid’s gonna be somebody better than anybody I ever knew.” And you grew up good and wonderful. It was great just watching you, every day was like a privilege. Then the time come for you to be your own man and take on the world, and you did. But somewhere along the line, you changed. You stopped being you. You let people stick a finger in your face and tell you you’re no good. And when things got hard, you started looking for something to blame, like a big shadow. Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you’re hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!

Many of you are facing challenges every day. You’re getting hit from all sides. There are some days when you just want to pull a Roberto Duran and throw your hands up in the air and say, “No Mas” (No More!). I understand. I truly do. Your knees have hit the ground one too many times. There seems to be no answer for the jabs and uppercuts of life. Enough is enough. This is the time in the fight where you turn to your Trainer and rely upon His strength. Rocky may have had his scars but they don’t compare to the scars of Jesus. He was beaten beyond recognition. He knew of the pain that He would have to endure and yet step by agonizing step, with the cross on His back, he made His way up the long path to the hill where He would be crucified. On that day He kept moving forward. Your face, my face, embedded in His mind, “I’m doing this for Jamie. I’m doing this for Sarah. I’m doing this for Ethan. I’m doing this for Julie. I’m doing this for Nathan. I’m doing this for Claude. I’m doing this for Linda.” On that day He WON!

You will too!