Staff Newsletter Columns
Did you know that all Ministry Staff newsletter columns can be read online? This week, Gene Chappell introduces you to the downtown soup kitchen our church supports with donations and volunteers. Find it here.
When You Feel Like a Bug on the Windshield of Life
by Tom Goodman
March 7, 2012
Warren and Andre Byrd were in three headline-grabbing disasters within the span of three years.
Do you remember the 1989 stories of the San Francisco Bay earthquake? The Byrds were there. They felt the shaking at their home on Travis Air Force Base, but no possessions were damaged.
Do you remember the 1991 stories of the volcano, Mt. Pinatubo, destroying Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines? The Byrds were there. They had been transferred from San Francisco to the Philippines, just in time for the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. The volcano buried their Buick and all their household belongings under volcanic ash.
As if that weren't enough, do you remember the 1992 stories of Hurricane Andrew that devastated Homestead, Florida? The Byrds were there, too. The Air Force moved them from Clark Air Base to Homestead Air Force Base just in time to meet Andrew. The hurricane crushed yet another of their cars and demolished their home.
Wherever the Air Force moved them next, I image their neighbors decided to take out extra insurance!
What are the odds of being in the middle of three headline-grabbing disasters in the span of three years? And each disaster just turned out to be a training ground to get them ready for the next crisis!
While still in the early years of his ministry, Jeremiah faced stiff opposition. But when he complained in prayer, God responded (Jeremiah 12:5), "Kid, this is just the scrimmage; the real game's coming up!" Gently but firmly, God told the
complaining prophet, "If you cannot learn to trust me during this crisis, what hope is there that you will trust me in the more severe circumstances that will come upon you?"
Phillips Brooks, that pastor most famous for giving us the Christmas carol O Little Town of Bethlehem, said something very profound about the troubles of today. He said:
Some day, in the years to come, you will be wrestling with the great temptation, or trembling under the great sorrow of your life. But the real struggle is here, now -- NOW it is being decided whether, in the day of your supreme sorrow or temptation, you shall miserably fail or gloriously conquer.
Join us this Sunday @ 10 and prepare to build faith now for whatever is in store for you later.
--Tom
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