Up to this point, I had been wracked with a major fear. I had already messed up my kids' lives, so badly, that I couldn't afford to make any more mistakes. There was just too much hanging in the balance. I didn't want any or all of my children to turn away from God because I had been a fool.
But, in the weeks after the encounter with God on that woman's front walk, these verses came to life for me:
God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end. So I concluded that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to enjoy themselves as long as they can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.
Ecclesiastes 3:11-13
NLT
About this same time, a woman I had worked with showed up at church. I didn't know what was up so, I kept my distance. Then one day the pastor started talking about a woman who had a brain tumor. She came to our church for prayer and now the doctors said that the tumor was GONE! I was excited to find out who it was. When the pastor called the woman forward it was the woman I'd worked with!
Then the pastor asked her why she'd picked our church. She pointed at me and said, "That man, right there. I watched him for a year and a half and he refused to compromise."
Now, I would expect my reaction to that news to be, to become prideful for a few days. Then I would do make a mistake that brought right back to earth. Strangely, I found myself being terrified. I thought, "Thank God I didn't mess up in front of her! She might not be here on earth anymore!"
But, I as I thought about it, the truth is she had seen me mess up. I'd been very visible in that place and I'm loud. I'm not very diplomatic and I always think I'm right until somebody proves me wrong. She didn't show up because of me. She showed up because of what king Solomon discovered many years ago.
Eternity had been planted in her heart. Everybody wants to live forever. And there is only One Person who can make that happen. Because God makes each of us "a city on a hill", this woman knew where she could find the One who could help her.
So, what does this have to do with me and my kids? If this woman could look past all my warts and faults to get what was already in her heart, surely, my children, who love me and whom I love so ferociously would be able to do the same.
The funny thing is that once I began to trust Him with my children, I was able to relax and start enjoying this beautiful life so much more. And that makes Him more attractive to my kids. And it makes day to day living a lot more enjoyable!
That's my view from here.
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