As many of you are well aware of in
October of 2011 I accepted the pastorate of Second Baptist Church in
Russellville, Kentucky. In August of
2014 I resigned that position and moved back to Morristown, Tennessee. The last six months have been a whirlwind and
in retrospect I have tried to analyze each step of the journey. One of the main questions that I have
continued to ask myself was this, “God, what was the lesson or lessons that I need
or needed to learn”?
I have not and do not question the
conviction that God called me to Kentucky.
I do not doubt that He also called me to leave when I did. So, I ask myself, what was the purpose of my
spending three years in Russellville, Kentucky?
I’m not sure I can fully answer that question as I am very well aware of
the fact that I am not God and much of His will may not be revealed until we
reach Heaven. But there are some things
that have become clear to me in these last few months. Let me share them with you and I pray that
they will also encourage you in your walk with our Lord.
1.
People are people.
I would be the first to tell you that Kentuckians and Tennesseans are
vastly different birds. There is no
debating that, but for all their unique characteristics they are still
people. Their preferences change in
everything from who their favorite sports team is to what music they like. From styles of worship to the way a funeral
service is to be conducted, but in all of that they have more in common than
they do differences.
I have learned that wherever you go people still want to be loved,
respected, encouraged, and appreciated.
Friends are friends wherever you go.
I have many friends in Kentucky and I came back to many friends in East
Tennessee. I have made an assortment of new
friends at my new church and gotten to know better others here that I only knew
from a distance.
I’m glad people are still people.
Friends are worth more than their weight in gold when your life is in
transition. I thank God for each one of
you!
2.
God is still God.
Wherever you and I go Jesus is still the same and I am forever grateful
for that. He still loves people. Don’t ever forget that. None of us are perfect, but that doesn’t stop
Him from loving us and it didn’t stop Him in spite of our faults from going to the Cross for us. His desire to save people doesn’t change when
you cross a state line or go to another country. As the children’s song says, ‘Red and yellow,
black and white, they are precious in His sight’.
I remind myself daily that God still has the final say in the affairs of
men. Some folks have great intentions
and will do anything they can to help you while others, well, let’s just say
run on a different track, but God is still in charge. I’m just thankful that He didn’t put me in
control. What a mess that would be!
3.
I can still trust Him.
Being called to Kentucky, being called back to Tennessee, not knowing your
future can leave you with a sense of isolation and loneliness. Through it all though, He quietly continued
to speak to my heart, “trust me”. When
you don’t have a job or a church, when you don’t know how long your money will
last, when you are not sure where you’re supposed to live, His word was “trust
me”.
My dear friend Dean Haun has told me that his life verse is Proverbs
3:5-6 (NKJV) Trust in the LORD with
all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In
all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
I may
not have thought of it as this verse states it, but it was in a nutshell what my
Lord kept reminding me. Trust me, I got
this.
You
may be going through something that may seem like a dark tunnel, but let me
reassure you. He’s still in charge. Trust Him.
Do I have it all together? Of
course not, but that’s the essence of the Christian life. Trust Him.
