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Dear Friends:  When the unexpected happens, we frequently ask "Why me? Why now? Why this?" This week's Digest looks at the way God uses our circumstances to teach us more about Him.
It is not too late to join us in our summer study in Colossians! Check out the opportunity at the bottom of this newsletter to work your way through this book with me by the end of August!
Please use the link at the very bottom of this email and forward it on to a friend who could use some encouragement! Thanks!
Love, Julie |
| A Lesson from a Roadside Rescue |
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 On the way to a writers conference this past week, the thing every woman dreads while traveling alone happened to me. My car broke down. As I hit the accelerator after a light turned green, something went terribly wrong with my steering. I lost the ability to control my car. With a great deal of effort and shrieking tires, I managed to maneuver the car off the main road, but had to abandon it in the middle of the secondary street. When I got out to investigate, I saw that my tires, instead of being parallel, stood perpendicular to each other. My car looked cross-eyed. It wasn't going anywhere.
Fortunately, the car conveniently died in front of a Dunkin Donuts. I went inside for a phone book to call a tow. To my surprise, the tow truck operator's cell phone went off inside the store-- he was two people behind me in line! As he went off to his station to get his truck, I stood by the side of the road in case a policeman came along. I called my husband and sadly told him that I needed him to come get me-- the writer's conference was off, at least for me. While I waited, a second tow truck owner came by and gave me his number should the first one fail to come. Five cars stopped and offered help. Then about fifteen minutes into my wait, a man came over to where I was standing. He was wearing a mechanic's shirt that sported the name Joe.
"Is this your car?" I assured him it was, and said a tow truck was on its way. He shook his head. "You don't need a tow. It has a broken tie-rod. Let me run over to my shop and get a hammer," he said, gesturing to a location just visible from where I was standing.
In five minutes he had returned. He banged on the car a few times, got the tire turned the right way, and drove my car into the shop. Within an hour he purchased the new part, installed it, realigned my tires, and handed me the keys. The problem was solved.
As I drove away, I mused in amazement at what had just happened. I was in the middle of Delaware, two hours from home. I know nothing about cars. I was at the mercy of whoever came along to help. The Lord took care of every detail throughout what could have been a horrendous experience. He supplied two tow trucks, five willing people, and finally a mechanic who got me back on the road, barely missing a beat.
Yet why did He have me break down in Delaware at all? As I reflected on the whole experience, I thought about another group of people who experienced travel difficulties. The Israelites left Egypt in a hurry after Pharaoh granted them permission in the wake of the terrible tenth plague. Not too long into their journey, they encountered a large body of water preventing their further progress. To make matters worse, the Egyptian army was on their way to retrieve the former slaves. Pharaoh had changed his mind.
In panic, the people cried out to the Lord. "We would have been better still serving the Egyptians! Why did you bring us out here to die?" In spite of witnessing the ten miraculous plagues, the people did not understand. The God they followed was faithful and would not let His people be destroyed.
You probably know the rest of the story. The Lord had Moses stretch out his staff over the sea and the waters parted. The people passed through on dry ground. Once all had safely reached the other side, the walls of water collapsed, drowning the threatening army.
Why did God allow that terrifying incident in the Israelite's traveling experience? He tells us Himself: "Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his horsemen." The Egyptians weren't the only ones who learned about God through what happened. Moses tells us: "When Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses" (Exodus 14:31).
God does not waste a moment in our lives. He is involved in every detail. His desire is for us to know Him better as He molds us into the image of Christ. My little traveling incident served its purpose in my life, to be sure. I left that garage more confident than ever before in God's faithfulness to provide for my needs. I also felt a strong sense that He wanted me at that writer's conference. I attended my meetings with editors and networked with confidence in His predetermined plans for me. He used a broken tie-rod and a road rescue to teach me what I needed to learn.
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| From My Blog Archives |
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Friday, May 23, 2008
Deliverance from Ourselves
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21
When Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians, he was under house arrest in the city of Rome. Paul spent his days and nights chained to a member of the elite Praetorian Guard, awaiting a trial that would determine whether he lived or died. Yet Paul never lost sight of the fact that nothing in his life happened without a purpose. In his earlier letter to the Romans (8:28), he wrote: "We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."
Paul was acutely aware that his physical circumstances were not what mattered. His bonds had no power over him other than in how God chose to use them to accomplish His purposes. In Philippians 1:19-20, Paul wrote: "For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance . . . that Christ will be exalted in my body . . . by life or by death." What kind of deliverance was Paul talking about? Deliverance from the shackles he now wore? The context does not seem to indicate this. I believe Paul was speaking of the kind of deliverance we all need: deliverance from ourselves.
Earlier in his letter, Paul had assured the Philippians that "He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." This "work" had already begun yet would not be completed until time on earth was finished. Therefore this "work" couldn't be their salvation. Their salvation was already a done deal, purchased and paid for by the blood of the Savior. So what was the work God continued to do in them and in all of us?
Transformation.
God was and still is in the process of changing all believers into the image of Christ. Paul understood that suffering would bring about this desired change. Peter wrote of this same idea in 1 Peter 4:1: "He who has suffered in the flesh has ceased to sin." Suffering difficult circumstances, especially to the extent that Paul did in his lifetime, has a way of allowing us to zero in on the main thing.
When my mother was sick with leukemia in the hospital, she sent me a card I will always treasure. In it she told me she was not sorry for this illness that threatened (and eventually took) her very life. Her circumstances had allowed her to gain a new perspective. She now clearly understood what was important and what must be brushed aside in her priorities. She had gained an intimacy with the Lord she had never before experienced. And in her mind, it was worth it all.
Less of me. More of Christ. For Paul, the deliverance was worth the suffering he endured. That Christ would be exalted in his body, by life or by death, was Paul's greatest desire.
When we look at what we are being delivered from: destructive attitudes and thoughts, pride and a self-serving agenda, corruption, greed, and a host of other faults imbedded in our old nature, we welcome the change God is bringing about in us. Deliverance from things such as these is a deliverance from the slavery of sin to absolute freedom in Christ. We are being transformed into what God intended us to be all along. He is changing us into what will best reflect His glory. It is a welcome deliverance. Even when done through sometimes painful circumstances.
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| Summer Study in Colossians |
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Summer is a busy time, and we can often allow our many activities to force our time in God's Word to the back burner. It's not too late to change all that! Each week day, I am posting a section of Colossians for us to ponder, systematically working our way through this remarkable letter by the apostle Paul.
Please join me by clicking on this link: juliecoleman.blogspot.com and begin a month of short studies together! If you are just beginning, scroll down to day one and work your way up.
Be sure to pass the link on to others who might enjoy a month-long study this summer! | |
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