Make It Personal!

I was standing on the back patio a few minutes ago on this cold and wet morning here in central North Carolina, watching the dog run through his morning routine around the yard, when I caught myself turning and looking up at the empty dining room window.  At that moment I realized just how lonely I was feeling since my wife’s passing.  I began to recall how many times I would look up into that particular window on days like this when it was too damp to take Piper outside with us and smile while I observed her sitting there in her red wheelchair seemingly enjoying the view of our spacious yard.

I also realized that even though she was completely disabled and unable to communicate verbally, that her very presence still gave me a great sense of calm and confidence!  The picture of her in that chair also reminded me of the long and sometimes difficult journey that, for some reason, that expensive but multi-functional candy-apple red chair seemed to represent!  As I turned my gaze back to the dog now sniffing the wet leaves and mud under the large Tulip Poplar tree in the northwest corner of our property, I thought about something I had heard last night.

When I was getting ready for bed the previous evening, I was listening to a well-known evangelist that Piper and I have always respected when he stated that the Lord had recently given him a mandate to go back to teaching the very basics of faith.  When he said that something clicked inside of me and I turned to my 71-pound lap dog who was all cuddled up on my bed with his head resting comfortably on my pillow… and declared, “that happened to me too!”

I know that I’ve told parts of this story before, but some of it is worth repeating today.  A couple of years after our return home from Bible College and our three year stay in Oklahoma, I came to the revelation that something was amiss!  Actually, to put it so mildly is quite the understatement.  At that point it seemed like everything around me was spinning wildly.

By then, Piper and I were deep into the medical investigation of her declining health situation, I had finally quit my secular, outside-the-home job as my wife could not be left alone anymore and we both knew without a doubt that I was the one to care for her, and it seemed like we were getting all kinds of unsolicited and many times questionable “advice” from almost everyone we came into contact with! 

It was at this point in prayer one morning, that I clearly heard that old familiar voice of the Lord inside of me telling me that it was important for us to develop a new network of family and friends, as many parts of the old one that we formally participated in and trusted had changed or could not be depended on anymore.  And as I began to think about His directions to me, it was pretty evident who was to be included in that new network from the positive interactions with some friends both old and new, cousins and others who seemed to come out of the woodwork in order to be a blessing to us.

Along with that part of the equation, I also found myself questioning almost everything that I had been taught at church over the years, in Bible School and the tenants of my faith that I thought that Piper and I always believed in and actively stood for.  Over the next few years it wasn’t too surprising to me that I discovered in my search for the real truth, that I STILL believed pretty much everything I had before Piper was stricken.  The main difference now though, was that I finally began to personalize it!  I understood that I/we had to take ownership of what we were believing for and like I’ve said many times before, grow and then protect our faith.

Throughout this time, we still had well-meaning people sharing what they wholeheartedly believed we had to do, both spiritually and physically to insure Piper’s well-being.  In the midst of all this, I ascertained pretty quickly that for many of these folks, their advice tended to fall into the “my way or the highway” category!  That is when favorite scriptures of both Piper’s and mine like Joshua 1:9 came into play in our situation.  In Joshua’s desperate time of need in the beginning stages of his leadership of the Israelite nation, the Lord told him… as I believe He told me, “I've commanded you to be strong and brave. Don't ever be afraid or discouraged! I am the LORD your God, and I will be there to help you wherever you go.” (CEV)

The strong, brave and not be discouraged parts of that verse is what continued to minister to me the most in the ensuing years… right through and including today! 

As life progressed, I learned that it takes great trust in the Lord and the truth of His Word to be strong and brave and not yield to the pressure of others while refusing to be discouraged at their responses to our actions of faith.  To stand on your own two feet in and on what YOU believe to be the truth and the God-given path that YOU are to follow isn’t always easy, but the results are worth the effort!

I’ll share more on this subject in future posts, but as for today, I wholeheartedly encourage you to study and find out what are the truths of God’s Word that YOU really believe and choose to stand on.  Then when the difficult tests of life come… and they do come to all of us… your ability to come out on top will prevail!  Have a great rest of the week, and as you do, say with me… “I am expecting my personal stand on God’s Word to put me over the top of any difficulty that should arise in my life today!”