Month: January 2014

James 4:14 “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow.  For what is your life?  It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”

This week deviated drastically from the one I had planned.  It was one that I would hope to never repeat.  On Monday evening, I was informed that my Group Superintendent, a seemingly healthy 41 year old Chief Master Sergeant, passed away unexpected from a heart attack while running.  That news kicked off a week that included notification of his wife and young children, sharing the somber news with the members of our organization, rallying support for his family, preparing for a fitting memorial, and welcoming the body back from his off-station location.  It was a horrible week, apart from the comfort of his strong Christian testimony that gave us every indication that he was already in heaven.

As Chief did every day, he had spent his last hours focusing his time, energy, and attention caring for others.  On that day he provided support to a struggling co-worker; visited with the wife of a member of our organization who had recently undergone major surgery; inspired Airmen through group interaction that left them encouraged, challenged, and equipped; and mentored a young Detachment Commander.  He was in the midst of reading a book on being a better Christian father.  He had encouraged me about the PLUS ministry.  He was a wonderful co-worker, confidant, and friend who seized the time he had available to him and used it to improve our nation.

Life is indeed short and unpredictable.  We have no guarantee that we will breathe our next breath.  This truth should motivate us to conduct our lives accordingly, and engage the problems of our land more fervently.  PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD REDEEM THE FLEETING TIME WE HAVE AVAILABLE TO MAKE AN IMPACT ON THIS LAND.  Let us do so before our time vanisheth away.

Matthew 25:21 “His lord said unto him, Well done good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of the lord.”

As I do every year, last year I ensured that my 2013 Goals followed the traditional good-goal-metric as described by the SMART acronym:

• S – Specific
• M – Measurable
• A – Attainable
• R – Relevant
• T – Time-bound

One of the more amusing goals in retrospect was the one that stated I was to “pray at least weekly for the United States and its leaders.”  While this is a reasonable goal (and one that meets the SMART criteria) for someone like myself who had never regularly prayed for his country, it is far short of where the Lord would eventually take me through a growing burden in my heart.  Once I was faithful in this small thing, He gave me something far greater for which to be faithful.  Looking back, I am so thankful that I had been faithful in something small so that the Lord could magnify this growing burden and give me the opportunity to be faithful over more.

PLEASE PRAY THAT IN 2014 AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD BE FAITHFUL OVER THE FEW THINGS AND THE MANY THINGS.  We should be as faithful with the small as with the grandiose.  With faithfulness through the things we consider small, the Lord can trust us enough to magnify the minor into the many or the mighty.

Esther 4:14 “For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

In addition to Luke 2:49, the Lord placed Esther 4:14 on my heart during my time of assessment and reflection at the end of 2012.  It guided me throughout 2013.  It also became the theme verse for the PLUS ministry though I didn’t know exactly how the Lord would use it in my life at the time I made it a personal theme verse for the year.  Yet, this verse did immediately impact my priorities.

Up to that point, I had never made my COUNTRY an explicit priority in my life.  I structure my daily prayer life around my priorities (with FAITH being the highest), and would lump prayers for America into my CAREER category.  I reasoned up to that point that because my career focused on serving my country through the military, that CAREER and COUNTRY were one and the same.  The Lord impressed upon me that this was not the case and that COUNTRY deserved a separate and preeminent priority over CAREER.  After all, without separate priorities what would take precedence if career progression and country advancement came into conflict?

Esther’s career as the queen did come into conflict with the betterment of her nation and her people.  Indeed, as described in Esther 4:14 the option to risk her career for the advancement of her people may have been the reason the Lord brought her to that position, place, and time.  She had to choose which priority took precedence, and she chose wisely.

I have yet needed to make such a stark choice between priorities as did Esther.  Maybe you have; maybe you haven’t.  Yet, it is important to know where our priorities would guide us if faced with such a situation.

PLEASE PRAY THAT WE WOULD PRIORITIZE OUR NATION ABOVE OUR POSITION, COME WHAT MAY.  In an America where institutions are diverging from our principles, such a choice may be closer than we imagine.  As I wrote as a part of my 2013 Goals, we each should be willing to “see my country improve in its spiritual and practical condition, even if at my expense.”