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Cal's Pastoral Epistles
The One Who Sets The Stage
April 20, 2006
Hello from sunny Florida. I am in Orlando this week at a ministry
conference. The music has been invigorating, the preaching has been
dynamic and the atmosphere down here is electric.
Last night I arrived a few minutes before the session began in order to
prepare my heart for worship. My eyes drifted toward the platform as I sat
there. It was at that moment I noticed the lights hanging from temporary
metal racks, the mounted speakers and sound monitors surrounding the
stage and a web of wires and cords that connected everything to a
makeshift sound and video control booth in the back of the room. A
strange thought hit me. This stage didn’t just appear. Someone went to a
lot of trouble to put all the pieces together so that we could enjoy what
was about to happen.
I don’t know about you, but I know that I take a lot of things for granted.
Most of the time I am juggling my work, family life and a whole bunch of
other stuff and trying not to drop anything. As a result I simply miss
noticing some things.
That became quite apparent to me last night. It suddenly dawned on me
that a lot of work went on behind the scenes to the set up for the session
last night. A small group of people did everything from securing the
location to establishing a theme for the event. They put together a schedule
and sought out speakers and workshop leaders that would address the
theme. They worked with a worship leader and a team of musicians, the
tech crew and reps from the hotel so that we could walk in and be blessed.
We didn’t do a thing. We simply showed up and reaped the benefits. It’s
funny but this kind of thing happens all the time and we rarely notice it.
We are having a bad day. The phone rings and a good friend is on the
other end of the line. Our cash flow is really tight and that night your
husband comes home with a bonus from work. We have a tough decision
to make and the preacher says something in the sermon that speaks
directly to the situation. How did he or she know? We take these things for
granted or write them off as coincidence but I’ve always said there is no
such thing as coincidence.
We worship the God who was there when Joseph was sold in slavery as a
boy and ended up as Pharoah’s right hand man when Jacob came calling.
We worship the God who was there when Moses was found hidden in the
bulrushes by Pharoah’s daughter and ended up leading the people out of
bondage in Egypt. The truth is that God loves to work behind the scenes.
The Scriptures tell us that “All things work together for good for those
who love the Lord.” So if you love God, you can be pretty sure that He is
there whenever something happens in your life, good or bad. If it is good,
then you can bet God is smiling as you reap the benefits. If it is painful,
then you can rest assured that God will turn it around and make it a
blessing down the road.
So take a few minutes this week and look around you. What blessings
have you been taking for granted? What difficulties have gone through that
have become a growing edge for you? When you notice them, be sure to
say “thank you” to God. As for me, tonight I am going to say “thank you”
to the stage crew down in the ballroom. Then I’ll return to my room and
give thanks to God.
God bless. See you in Church. Cal
Pastor Cal Lord writes these weekly epistles to
help us see God in every day things.
help us see God in every day things.
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