Spring 2024 has come upon us in Broken Arrow, OK

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Slow Motion

When I flipped on my computer bible study program this morning, the first thing my eyes fell upon was the highlighted scripture that I had last looked at yesterday.  It was from Revelation 11:17 and declared “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun ruling as king.” (God’s Word ©)  The idea of having begun to rule led me along a rabbit trail that eventually reached into Philippians chapter two.  Verses 9-10 describe how Jesus was highly exalted and given a name above every name to which everything has to bow its knee.

Further down in verses 13-16 we find out that “It is God who produces in you the desires and actions that please him”, and that we are to do these things without complaining or hesitation,  all the while “holding forth the Word of life.” (Philippians 2:13 God’s Word © & KJV)
Those two portions of scripture from Revelation and Philippians easily went together in my way of thinking.  To summarize, it would seem that our heavenly Father is encouraging us to give thanks in all things because we trust explicitly in Him, are seeking His best for our lives, are being obedient to His directions without grumbling and without hesitation and are therefore demonstrating the light of His love in the midst of the corruption of this world that surrounds us.  A commentary in “The People’s New Testament” states that the idea behind the command of “Holding forth the word of life.” is that we are “always preaching Christ in word, in life and in deed.”  That kind of incorporates everything we do doesn’t it?
When I kicked back in my chair and thought on all of this earlier today, I pictured how our having a thankful attitude prepares the way for us to act out His will in the daily occurrences of our lives.  It is like hitting the pause button of your DVR, reversing the scene and then viewing it again in slow motion so you can catch some details that you might have missed.
I was also reminded of an event that seemed to be a perfect example of this that happened many years ago when our oldest son was probably around five years old.  It was a Saturday afternoon when we had just finished hosting a birthday party for our youngest daughter.  It must have been her third birthday!  We had invited many of her friends along with their parents and siblings and had a typical experience with a house and yard full of kids running all over, lots of noise, ice cream spilled on the kitchen floor next to all the scuff marks ground into the linoleum and a back yard filled with toys, discarded present wrappings and bits of cake and candy that our Sheltie had not yet discovered! 
All in all it had been a GREAT day!  After everyone had left and our son had gone across the street to continue playing in the backyard of his little friend, my wife and I plopped down exhaustedly contented on the couch with our sleeping daughter in Piper’s arms.  When we began to reminisce about the day, the phone in the hallway suddenly rang.  When I answered it, I heard our neighbor’s voice from across the street calmly telling me that Josh had fallen off their backyard table and cut his head and was bleeding rather profusely!
When we got to their yard we discovered that the boys had been playing secret agents with plastic guns and that when Josh fell, the gun actually cut his forehead.  Well, the gash looked pretty ugly so we left Jamie with our neighbor and the three of us headed over a couple of blocks to the local hospital emergency room.  Everything and everybody was doing fine until the doctor examined the wound and stated that it would need stiches.  That’s when things began to deteriorate! 
Josh started squirming when they took out the needle so they put a type of jacket on him that would restrain his movements in order for them to safely complete the job.  At that point he began to shout out “Daddy!  Daddy!  Don’t let them do it Daddy!”  When I looked over at my normally rock-steady wife, she had turned white, was sweating profusely and was getting quite wobbly on her feet.  She looked at me and then at the attending doctor and said “I’m going to go over in that corner and sit on the floor…”  Well, the doctor would have none of that and turned to a nurse and rather pointedly told her “to get her (my wife) out of here!”  To which my wife instantly began to resist as she didn’t want to leave her son!
What was interesting to me was that in the midst of all this confusion I found myself verbally repeating over and over again: “Thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus!”  By now I am sure that the doctor must have thought that he was dealing with a bunch of Looney tunes!  But I didn’t care at that point.  It was as if everything unfolding around me suddenly went into slow motion!  I was able to comfort my wife and encourage her to take care of herself in the waiting room and that all would be okay with Josh.  Then I went to Josh’s side and was able to give him the reassuring words that helped him to relax and let the doctor do the job.  In what then seemed to be just a little while, it was all over and we were laughing about it in the car as we headed home!
To me, the ability to give thanks to God at the very beginning of a situation allows you to tap into His will, power, love and strength so that you can do what He wants and needs you to do.  It gives you the heads up to look toward Him and not at yourself or the events before you.  I believe that it is the key that gives you the awareness to be a part of God’s solution instead of adding to the problem.
What do you think?  I personally like the idea of being part of the solution, don’t you?  We heard a sermon last night that encouraged us with the thought that we are actually the carriers of His will on this earth.  That truth makes me desire to enter into a situation not with the thought of what I or anyone else did wrong to cause it, but instead with the encouragement, confidence and faith that I can be used of God to bring His fix into it!  I like that!
Have a great day.  Stay in tune to His Word and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting TO DO for Him today?”

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