The Journey

Life is a journey. Mine has taken me down some paths I never dreamed I would see. To this point I have preached in three different countries and ten different states. I have seen some beautiful landscapes. I have also walked the back streets of dirty villages and filthy towns in Honduras and Cuba.  I have repeatedly packed suitcases and driven or flown to destinations to preach Christ and Him crucified.

This is my fifth church to pastor. Each church holds a special place in my heart. There are great memories of God's faithfulness and answers to prayer. I still rejoice when I think on those who were saved, called to the ministry, or really set on fire for Christ. On the other hand my heart is saddened from the many who fell away from the faith. Some may have never truly been saved in the first place. Others have backslidden.

I am reminded of the many ways God has come through for my family. He has comforted us when people disliked us and wanted to remove us from our place of service. He has strengthened us during times of trials. He has held us steadfast in times of uncertainty. He has provided for us when the times were lean. He has empowered us to serve when we were weak and weary.

My life has been quite a journey. There have been many ups. There have also been some tough times. For the past year and a half our journey has taken us to starting Faith Community Church. We have faced many trials. I have shed many tears of frustration, confusion, and despair. Some fell in the r/v I stayed in for the first three months of this journey. Some have fallen in our rent house we have lived in for the past year. Others have fallen in the seclusion of my truck and still others in my office.

The idealistic dream of starting a church has long since faded into the grind of persevering this leg of the journey. The dream of starting a church seems more like a journey to climb to the summit of a mountain. It has been tough going at times and I am not ashamed to say my family has sacrificed in many ways to make this climb. Often times joy has been choked by my sinful attitude. There have been times when the pastor of Faith Community Church could barely muster the faith to preach a sermon like one Sunday morning in December of 2011. Much of the time the journey has left me numb.

I can't explain it but while making this journey from day to day somewhere I quit feeling things deeply. I quit hurting as deeply at the troubling and confusing things but I also quit feeling euphoric in the high times like our high attendance Sunday. I smiled when told the attendance count but it did not stir me emotionally.

What is the point? Through all of it, I have kept going. I got up this morning and started my journey through prayer and scripture reading as I have done most mornings for the past twenty something years. I got dressed eager to get to the office and do my work. Part of that work is writing this blog and work on another book. Part of that work is preparing for messages. Part of that work is interceding for the hurting flock.

I don't know where this journey will take me next. I could remain right here for the remainder of my days serving God. He could uproot me again as He has done so many times before. Here is the thing. I am not the master of this journey. I do not get to determine the stopping points along the way or the final destination. I have set my eyes on Christ and my journey is to get closer to Him. Along the way He has assignments for me to carry out. One of those is to write to comfort, challenge, and inspire others on their journey.

Many of my friends tell me privately my journey has been hard and they would not have been able to endure many of the trials Brenda and I have faced. Perhaps I brought some of those on myself. Perhaps some of those trials were ordained by God to try and strengthen my faith. Over and over again we have seen God come through.

Most of our trials on the journey have centered around lack of finances. Brenda reminded me the other day I have chosen a different path than many other in ministry. Money has not been my motivation. I have never asked a church what they could pay me. It never mattered. All that mattered to me is whether God called us to serve in those churches. At times we have lived below the poverty level and we prayed for everything from tanks of gas, to groceries, to lunch money for the kids and Christmas money. Faithfully God has come through on the journey. Somedays He gave us just enough for that day. Other days He has given in abundance. We have been paid little and we have been paid abundantly by different churches. We have learned first hand God can be trusted when it comes to meeting our needs.

Recently God has used people from Seminole to meet a great need in our lives as well as a family from east Texas. If our living by faith encourages other people to do the same then I am glad for the trials and the hardships on the journey. God shines brightest against the darkness of adversity.

If my journey takes me through trials like that so that other people can be encouraged to keep trusting God, then I have to keep pressing on. God has provided marvelously for my family. In recent days we have been given meat, financial provision, and a great deal of prayers.

I can't say in hindsight I would have chosen this journey of faith for myself. I can say I have seen the faithfulness of God every step of the way. Regardless of where you find yourself on life's journey I want to exhort you to keep trusting God. You may not understand anymore than I have understood the ways of God in my life. Continue to trust Him and wait on Him to show up for you. It might be in the form of a hug from a friend, a text or note of encouragement, a prayer sent up on your behalf, or a chapter in a book. God may reveal Himself through the music and lyrics of a song or through a message preached.

God never told us the journey would be easy. It gets downright hard at times. Quitting would be easier than finishing. Running away appears to be more tempting than staying. Stay the course. By faith keep putting one foot in front of the other. Quit looking around you and just keep your eyes focused downward where God's word is a light unto your path and a lamp unto your feet. [Ps 119:11] Fix your eyes on Jesus who perfected the journey and has laid out yours. Be inspired by His joy even when it meant enduring the cross. [Heb 12:2-3] Keep walking. Keep running. Keep pedaling. Keep climbing. Keep overcoming.

In every journey there is a final destination. Mine as well as yours is Heaven if Jesus Christ has redeemed you. No matter how tough the journey gets it will be worth it when we make it home.

Many times after preaching a revival or camp I have made the long trip home in the wee hours of the morning. There were times I felt I could not travel another mile and my eye lids felt weighted down as I fought to keep them open. At times I pulled over and ran around the car, I slapped myself repeatedly, pinched myself, yelled out loud, drank gallons of tea and ate bags of sunflower seeds until my mouth became raw all in an effort to stay awake. You know what? It was all worth it a thousand times when I walked through the door and made my way to each of the boys' room where they slept and finally climbed beneath the covers of my bed next to Brenda.

A million times more it will be worth it when at the end of our journey we finally get home with Jesus in Heaven for eternity. That thought alone inspires me to keep up the pace on this journey. The finish line is closer for me than it has ever been. I've come too far to turn back now. Upward and onward on the journey.