Giving Thanks at All Times - Pt. 5

 

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:4–9 ESV).

 

For today’s devotional thought I need to take you back with me to 1971, long before Faith and Logan were born. Though they have a role to play in the recognition of how God was faithfully leading me into His provision of good for our lives all along. I began my Master of Divinity at Southwestern Baptist theological Seminary in January of 1971 immediately following my graduation from Texas A&M. Those were very difficult years with lengthy stories that I cannot share with more than bullet points in the space available through this medium. Before my graduation from A&M Mary and I needed to reveal to my parents the change from Catholicism to Southern Baptist and my call into vocational ministry as a pastor. That did not go well. We were literally banned from their presence and told never to return home again. Hurt is much too small a word to describe the pain of that experience.

 

Over the coming months we honored their demand, though I called each week to check in, often receiving a cold or indifferent response. At the same time Mary and I began to pray for the Lord to grant us peace and calling to what we believed was the best possible place of service. We dreamed of serving somewhere in Middle Tennessee (close to our beloved Smokie Mountains) where I could pastor a small rural church and practice pastoral care and counseling full time. Over the next three years we were able to restore some relationship with my parents as they began to see the joy God had given us in preparing to serve in this calling. I graduated in December 1973. Two weeks before graduation I had not received any invitation to interview for any position. I began to wonder if I had made a mistake. It was at that time that I recognized that perhaps I simply didn’t trust the will of God working in my life. Mary and I determined that we would go wherever and whenever God deemed good. I applied for further studies in the doctoral program and was content to prepare more while we waited on the Lord. Just days later I received a call from the Texas Baptist Student Division to interview for a position as a college student minister. That was certainly never on our radar!

 

However, it was the first step God needed us to take in the journey that would take until March, 2011 for us to receive what we asked God to do forty years earlier. We went to Tyler Junior College as the BSU Director, which led to associate pastor at FBC, Tyler. There I came under the guidance of one of my three mentors, Bill Samburger, who was a great friend and mentor. Two years later I went to University Heights Baptist Church as pastor; then to FBC, Mt. Pleasant; then to Southern Oaks Baptist Church, Tyler, then finally to North Side Baptist Church, Weatherford. All of these were large churches in Texas. None of them matched our prayers of seminary days, though each played a significant role in God’s granting of my heart’s desire.

 

Health issues resulted in my resignation from North Side Baptist and a year of recuperation. Needing to stay in Weatherford so that our youngest son could finish high school where he started, I took a job offered by the owner of a large auto group. I still preached often in other churches and across many denominational lines, while at the same time learning much more about those things that would be essential for the next steps in our journey. When Faith and Logan were born these steps made it possible to make the move to North Carolina.

 

It still was not a “small rural church in Middle Tennessee with a full-time counseling ministry”; but, it was full of joy and purpose. A few years passed and Kyle made the decision to move to a position at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Of course, we followed. That led to the formal development of Grace Restoration Ministries and a call to Santa Fe Baptist Church in a small community just east of Columbia, Tennessee. God had answered our prayer of forty years past! You can see from the Easter Sunday picture I’ve attached with the church in the background that church I Mary and I prayed for all those years ago. God was working that good in His time all along. All of the places I served were great places, but this church became our last church and the fulfillment of our heart’s desire.

 

This journey was not without pain and difficulty; however, it was also full of grace. If grace reveals that joy is a gift, then prayer is the Lord’s gracious means through which he daily sustains that joy. We sometimes believe we are independent, self-sufficient people. Our tired minds, aching backs, and callous hands that produced a successful career and a comfortable home seem to affirm that myth. But what if corporate restructuring takes away the paycheck, or terminal illness robs our strength and vitality? Anxiety, worry, and fear set in, taking the place of our pride.

 

Life comes from the Lord, and so does daily help. We come to the Lord through prayer, and the fruit of prayer is peace. Yet prayer is not a mantra, and we can’t use it to try to manipulate God. Prayer is a divine gift to strengthen the bonds of love between us and God. The act of prayer itself affirms our dependence on him for peace and joy. That’s the prompt for Thanksgiving. Rest in the assurance that God is working His best good in your life, no matter how strange each turn looks like! Listen to the Apostle Paul again:

 

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things (v. 8).