Make IT Personal!

Well, guess what?  Earlier this week, I finally went camping again.  It was the first time that I’ve been under the trees, and out in nature for a few nights since Piper and I took our trailer up to the Sierra’s to celebrate our 35^th Wedding Anniversary!  It’s not like I haven’t had other opportunities since I’ve been here in Broken Arrow, but it was the first time that I felt “ready” to go… if you know what I mean.  My youngest daughter, her hubby and our granddaughter have been very patient with me and continued to invite me, even though I kept declining their offers.  They have a beautiful 30 some foot trailer, so it’s not like I’d really be roughing it… although I have always loved simple tent camping!

I believe that the reason it was difficult for me to go camping is that I would have to acknowledge and face another huge part of my life that was always shared with my wife… this time without her… and accepting the fact that there will NEVER be another camping adventure with her at my side… except for “on the other side” - in heaven.  From what I have read… it’s pretty gorgeous up there, so I am SURE that camping is an extra-extraordinary experience on the other side of the veil!  But until then, I have to deal with the here and now and the myriad of feelings that still abound in me concerning her.

We went to Sequoyah State Park which is one of Oklahoma State Park's 32 parks.  It is a 2,200-acre peninsular recreation space on the eastern shore of Fort Gibson Lake in Cherokee County, Oklahoma about 50 minutes southeast of our home.  The weather was gorgeous, although we did have a thunderstorm blow through in the early morning hours on the first night we were there.  I probably would have slept through it… had it not been for Fiver!

I had been fast asleep in the air-conditioned trailer (I know… pretty rough… right!) when I suddenly woke up to a big black nose not two inches away from my face!  He kinda startled me, but I looked at my wrist watch to discover that it was around 5:30 AM and just assumed that he wanted to go out.  So, I swung my feet over the side of the bed and stood up when I caught sight of bright light flashing through the multiple skylights in the trailer!  Following the lightening came the familiar clap of thunder… so I shook my head and reached out to Fiver with a calming hand, sat back down on the bed and comforted him… for the next hour or so!

One of the easiest and most enjoyable personal camping traditions that I jumped right back into, was getting up early and retreating outside to the camp table in the quiet of the morning to enjoy a good hour or more in peaceful solitude with the Lord.  Once there, I studied my Bible, took copious notes, and let my imagination and thoughts run unbridled while soaking in the serenity of beautiful Fort Gibson Lake, with the sun reflecting low on the water on the eastern horizon, less than 100 feet from our camp site.  The one thing I missed though, was the sight, sound and smell of the coffee percolating on the open fire that I normally prepared when I got up.  But this time I had to wait for the rest of the crew to rise… but it was worth it as the French Press coffee that JoAnna prepared was 100% better than the scalding hot, bitter camp coffee I used to make. 

It seemed like the Lord wanted to talk with me during our morning interludes about the importance of personalizing one’s faith and the integration of it into our daily lives.  On that first morning, after Fiver finally calmed down, I laid back in bed but couldn’t sleep.  So, I pulled out my little Passion Translation New Testament that I had snuggled next to me between the bed and the side of the trailer and opened it up to Hebrews 11:1.  In this portion of scripture, the writer of Hebrews gives a vivid description of the God kind of faith for us Christians to follow.  It says, “Now faith brings our hopes into reality and becomes the foundation needed to acquire the things we long for. It is all the evidence required to prove what is still unseen.” 

If you know me, then you know that I like to personalize the scriptures so that they have the most impact on me.  And when it comes to verses that talk about our faith, or our believing in something, I always like to add the additional descriptive expression of having “active” faith or “actively” believing.  In my Christian walk, I have learned that one cannot expect yesterday’s actions of faith to carry you through today’s needs!  So, I see the necessity of having a daily faith that is fresh, newly charged and currently active!  Therefore, when I take notes and personalize Hebrews 11:1, my notebook declares that, “My active, now faith is that which brings my hopes and expectations into reality and has become the foundation that I need to acquire the things that I am actively believing for.  It is all the evidence that I require to prove what is still unseen.”

When I read that in the trailer, I saw something that got me so excited that I had to slip right back out of bed, grab my shoes, clip the leash on the dog and head outside!  By then the overcast was moving out and the early morning light and blue sky was crowding out the dark!  I quickly discovered that one of the nice things about camping in Oklahoma over California, is when you step outside around 7:00 in the morning in shorts and a thin t-shirt, that it is actually quite pleasant as the temperature is already in the mid 70’s!

After taking Fiver for a quick walk around the campsite, we headed to the table, opened my Bible, my notebook and my laptop with the Bible Study program and went right back to Hebrews 11:1.  What had caught my attention in the trailer were all the “My’s and I’s” that I saw when I read and personalized the verse!  It had startled me just as did Fiver’s big black nose in my face earlier!

What struck me was the realization that my active, now faith is not only the foundation that I have come to trust in when I am believing to acquire something that I am actively standing in faith for… but also the point that it is ALL the evidence that I require to prove what may still be unseen to me.  The reason that this shook me (in a good way) was that it answered all the questions I have had over the years when people would look at Piper and I like we were crazy because we were standing in faith for things.  Crazy like we were just plain stupid, naïve, living in “La, La Land” or irresponsible.  And then how, after the things we were actively believing for began to come into physical existence, they would seem to not see it, act as if nothing was happening, and/or refuse to acknowledge that our faith in God and His Word was working for us.

When I read Hebrews 11:1 early on that Tuesday morning, the answer to my questions was really quite simple.  According to my understanding of that verse, the evidence that Piper and I required to see the answer to our faith was different (and a lot less complicated) than the other people’s.  All we tended to need was our active belief in God and His Word.  For them, the answer had to come from tangible things like a steady good paying job, the medical course of action that they thought was right, and attending the various church services that they deemed as the ones that would help Piper the most… among other things!  And since we didn’t ascribe to their methodology, they refused to (or couldn’t) see the countless miracles that came all along the way for us!   

It was our simple, child-like faith, the plan God gave us and our current and active believing in Him and nothing else.  By the time we came home from Oklahoma in 2006, we had so personalized what we believed, that no amount of dis-belief was going to shake us.  That is the level of personalized faith that I believe that God wants each of us to have.  It is great to believe in some Biblical truths that someone else believes in… but unless you have personally studied it out and integrated it into your life, it just won’t stand up when you experience a rough patch along the way.  

When push comes to shove, the only thing that stands up in the midst of the devil’s fierce attacks, is what we believe deep inside of hearts… those truths that cannot be swayed by other’s fears and conflicting beliefs.  It’s your own faith, the things that you have personalized and integrated into your daily walk and talk that will get you through!  When you’re sitting in the dark, in the hallway, in the middle of the night… just like I did on many occasions, the only thing that is going to get you through the night is the truths of God’s Word that you have planted deep into your heart.  When there is no one else around… the answers, the strength and the miracles you need only come when it is just you and God!

And that was just my Tuesday early morning camp Bible study!  Wait until I tell you about Wednesday and Thursday… WHEW!  I hope that you all have a terrific weekend and a good time personalizing God’s truth into your daily lives!