Obscurity

(will we be remembered???)

Do you ever wonder if you make a difference? Do you ever wonder if anyone notices what you do? Do you ever think you are living in obscurity not really helping make the world a better place? I suppose we all have these feelings at one time or another. Even a position with the YMCA or other ministry work is no guarantee that you will feel 'relevant" each and every day.

A friend and colleague shared this quote recently: "I feel I shall be buried for a time, hidden away in obscurity; then suddenly I shall flameout, do my work, and be gone". This is how Oswald Chambers felt during his lifetime... author of the classic devotional My Utmost for His Highest... who died while serving as a YMCA chaplain in Egypt during World War I... a special YMCA edition of his book is on my desk right now...If a man who has touched literally millions of lives with his work felt obscure during his lifetime, why should we feel any different?

Chambers insightful writing was not published until 1935, fully eighteen years after his death, through the hard work and devotion of his wife Gertrude. It seems his life really did reflect the feeling expressed in his quote.

I pray that each of you will see the fruit of your labors in your lifetime. I'm certain that each of you makes a profound difference in the lives of many people.

I know that you do in mine.

Thanks for all you do.

Brian

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Waiting

(waiting.... waiting... waiting...)

I’ve never had to travel for business very much over the years. A little here and there, but not the constant grind like many folks I know. Consequently, I’ve never had to deal with an airport delay…until now. The plane from Chicago to Cleveland is now scheduled at midnight, 2 ½ hours late. What’s worse, I guess, is that we’ve had no explanation from the airline. No human is around, no sign is posted. An airplane is sitting at the end of the jet way. But all the information we have is a departure schedule that says “now 11:59”. So we are all left to wonder, “What is all the waiting for?”

The Bible is filled with examples of people waiting. Abraham and Sarah waited decades for Isaac, the first of their promised descendants. David was anointed by Samuel as a young boy, but didn’t become King of Israel, until he was 30. Noah waited forty years for it to rain. I think it’s safe to say they may have wondered, “What is all the waiting for?”

Psalm 130:5-7 says this: “Wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning… O Israel put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love.”

So while we wait there is hope and love, and the knowledge that the Lord was faithful to Abraham, David and Noah, in his time.


Brian

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What makes this thing work?

From The Mountaintop to the Valley

What makes this thing work?

I’m writing this on an airplane in the midst of a five hour flight to Seattle. The seat in front of me is pushed way back, of course, I miss my family already, and the food was underwhelming. Still, I appreciate the hard work that goes into making a trip like this possible. I’m certain it would take many days to make such a trip by car, bus or train. With that kind of timeframe, I would have stayed home.

Occasionally, as I look out the window at the earth 6 miles below, I realize that THE EARTH IS 6 MILES BELOW! What in the world am I doing up here in the sky? And what makes this thing work? I understand the basic theory of wing shape and airflow and relative air pressure, but I could never build or fly an airplane. So, I’m forced to have faith that the designer and the pilot both know what they are doing.

Life is a lot like that. I can’t begin to understand how the world all fits together so well. I can’t fathom how a baby grows from two cells to a smiling, laughing infant in my arms. I can’t comprehend the vastness of the universe. And I certainly don’t understand why all the good and bad things I’ve experienced had to happen the way they did. So I’m forced to have faith that the designer and pilot of it all knows what He’s doing.

Because I could never fly this life on my own.

Brian

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