It is late Sunday afternoon. I am at the church alone. It is quiet except for the sound of passing traffic outside. There is a peaceful calming atmosphere this afternoon. The phone is not ringing. There is no flurry of activity in the other offices. The worshippers have not arrived for the evening service. All is calm.
Earlier I walked through the sanctuary to unlock the backdoor. As I walked back down the aisle I noticed the pulpit, the instruments, and the pews. I paused and turned to look over the whole room. As I did I reflected on the will of God to move my family to serve FBC Seminole over a year ago. This is our second Christmas in Seminole. A swirl of memories passed through my mind from the morning services. I saw many in the congregation moved to tears both young and old alike. I saw the love of God manifested in and through the congregation.
My heart rejoiced when two of our senior saints told me they loved me. These were not passing words. I celebrated that at least for a few I have become much more than a preacher but a PASTOR. Hugs were freely given this morning.
As I stood in the empty sanctuary pausing to reflect on God’s goodness to my family, I could not helped but to be moved with gratitude for the blessings of God to serve this church. We have experienced so much over the past year. We have seen growth. We have been awed by the power of God. We have tasted the river of revival. We have mourned and grieved together. We have taken steps of faith together. We have prayed together. We have studied scripture together. We have given sacrificially to expand God’s Kingdom. We have worshipped, wept, laughed, dreamed, and gathered together. In many ways it seems we have been here way longer than a year.
As I paused in the sanctuary to let all those thoughts sink in, I could not help but thank God for His love, grace, guidance, and blessing. [Ps 16:6] states, “The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.” Two key words in this passage are the words pleasant and beautiful. The word pleasant means “delightful, sweet, agreeable.” The word pleasant means “to glisten, to be fair.” Put both of those thoughts together and the Psalmist is saying that his lot in life had fallen to delightfully sweet beautifully glistening places.
I know many people who cannot say that. Many people find themselves in hard places. Ugly places. Unpleasant places. Brenda and I are blessed in that God has blessed us with a church who loves us. We do not doubt this. We continually get words of encouragement, have our meals bought at restaurants, and are blessed to have remnant who truly hunger and thirst for righteousness. We are showered with blessings in other ways as well. Do not get me wrong. We are not a perfect church and more than I am a perfect pastor. See the blog “Wretched Man That I Am” to see that is not true. I am not even sure if I could honestly say we are a revived church. We are a blessed church though. The presence of God dwells with us.
It is easy to get so busy and live life in the fast lane so much of the time that we forget to pause and reflect. Doing so today proved to be good for my soul. The longer I paused the more humbled I became that God chose me out of all the pastors in the world to shepherd this flock. Many are better preachers. Most are more educated. Tons are more eloquent and diplomatic. For some strange reason the Lord called me. It is a pleasant and beautiful reality in my life and the rest of the Edwards household.
All too well do I remember that call on our lives to uproot from Paradise and follow the Lord to Seminole. It was a painful and unsettling time for all of us. It took place over the course of five months. In those days the Lord pried my hands away from a flock I loved and still love dearly back in Wise County. I still keep in contact with several people from there.
We barely scooted into Seminole in late August of 2009 in time for the boys to start school the following morning. We have had to make some adjustments to life in West Texas. We have had to learn to enjoy spending LOTS of time in the car driving! We drove two hours for Tanner’s basketball game last Monday night. Turner played in a league in Lubbock for several weeks.
I am adjusting to life without trees and the process of farming, which fascinates me. I am learning that life in Seminole is busier than life in previous places we have served. Still, my pausing and reflecting have caused me to see how God willed for His plans for my life to fall in the pleasant and beautiful community of Seminole.
Life is good. I am well contented. Thank you Lord for blessing my family in so many ways. If I did not get one gift under the tree this year or the next I still would say You have drawn your lines for us in pleasant and beautiful places.
Now, what about you? You cannot live vicariously through my experiences. Isn’t it time you paused, reflected and gave thanks to God for your life too? If you do, God will show you His goodness in the land of the living. You will see many ways you have been blessed. I trust your heart will be moved to praise as well.
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