Hey Gang:
Many years ago our Board President felt we needed a little rest and
relaxation so he provided a scholarship for us to spend a week at the Christian
Retreat Center in Bradenton, Florida. while there we were privileged to sit
under the teachings of such people as Gerald Derstine, Iverna Thompkins, Judson
Cornwell and many other anointed teachers.
But
one that I would place at the top of the list was a pastor by the name of Jamie
Buckingham. Jamie had spent many weeks in
the Sinai learning what God would teach him the desert.
He wrote a book, that graces my library,
titled A way Through the Wilderness.
When I find myself in the midst of a
wilderness experience, more times than not, I return to the pages of this book
for encouragement and perhaps a better understanding of what I am going
through. He, like Paul and James, is a
very practical teacher. He uses the simple things of the desert to teach us
profound truths.
For example, he points out that when God is
looking for something for His service, He usually looks for something common to
us. An old country preacher once said,
"When God needs something done, He looks for a broken vessel and smashes
it and then places it on the potter’s wheel for molding into the image of His
Son and preparation for what lies ahead.
In
Exodus 4:2 we find such an example.
Moses was not red hot on the idea of going back to the land of Pharaoh
who had placed a price on his head for bumping off one of their citizens. He, like most of us, opened his bag of
excuses as to why we do not want to do something. ‘I mean
Lord, I don't talk so good, I mean Lord I am a minimally educated hillbilly
from the sticks, I mean Lord there are mega people more qualified than I.’
I
wonder if Saul might have come up with similar excuses as to why he did not
want to become Paul the missionary to the Gentiles. But God gave him no opportunity to open his
excuse bag - He (God) looked down and said, "I'll take that one” and knocked him off his donkey".
I wonder if God was not becoming a wee bit
impatient with Moses when He said to him "Hey, Moses, what do you have in your hand?”
"A rod". "Throw it on the ground". We know the story, the rod turned into a
serpent. God said pick it up by the tail.
The serpent turned back to a rod but without the serpent in it.
Soooo, my young friends, We know, from
seeing all the movies about Moses, that he was never without that rod.
Why? Because the rod represents
authority! Moses was now a man under
authority. Does that mean we should all
go and get a rod? No!, I do not think
that is the focus of the story; but rather that God can use anything that is
given to Him. Keep in mind God honors simple things!
Blessings,
Gramps
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