It is Well with My Soul!
It’s been awhile since I have sat on the back porch up on Rocky Top to write. Truthfully, I have been terrified of what would come out as I hit the keys on my laptop.
If you have been with me since the beginning of this blog, you know I am REAL. What does that mean? I don’t play games or try and pretend all is well when it is not well.
Protests took place in Rocky Top city this weekend. My son and his wife are in Houston as Hurricane Harvey dumps rain on the already saturated earth. Parents are hurting because their young son has been diagnosed with brain cancer.
I returned from a land just a few weeks ago where floods, hurricanes, or protests would have been welcome disasters. I sat in a room as two precious sisters in the Lord shared how their husbands had been tragically killed for their faith. Yet, these women sang praises to Jesus and lifted up His name.
Perspective is always an antidote for self-pity.
As many of you know, Preacher resigned as senior pastor at First Baptist Concord last week. It was an agonizing decision. His words on Sunday, August 20 will ring in my head for a long time, “I love this church. Yet, I love Jesus more. We must be obedient to His call on our lives.”
On Monday, September 11 we will begin to serve Life Action Ministries as missionaries to America and the world. Life Action is a ministry filled with many wonderful people who daily sacrifice so much to see our nation turn their hearts toward God.
At sixteen years of age I walked down the aisle of a church and told the pastor God was calling me to missions. In God’s graciousness, He knew it would take forty years, give or take a few, to prepare my heart to totally accept this call. What can I say except that I am a slow learner.
The mission statement of Life Action ministries is to ignite Christ-centered movements of authentic Christianity that displays the gospel and fulfills the Great Commission.
Our nation is sick. The answer is Jesus. Churches in our nation are in desperate need of revival. Revival is not a week-long set of meetings with guest preachers. Revival occurs when a dead heart comes back to life and determines to follow Christ at all costs. Revival happens when a church body decides to care more about the lost than their own personal preferences. Preacher and I must be obedient to His call of revival on our lives.
Real life on Rocky Top will continue. Preacher and I will still call this home as long as the Lord allows.
What I want you to know is “It is Well With My Soul.”
Many tears have been shed as Preacher and I sought God’s direction for our lives. Change is not easy, especially as we age. When comfort is longed for, God challenges us with change. A true disciple of Christ never becomes “comfortable.”
Paul in the New Testament is the ultimate example of one who followed Christ. Over and over we see Paul making ministry decisions not based on what was best for himself or what was comfortable for him. In Philippians 1:12 Paul clearly emphasized that everything in his life, the good and the bad, was about the advancement of the gospel.
When change comes, the question is not “What does this mean for me?” but “What does this mean for His kingdom?”
Preacher and I are just God’s servants. Our desire is to simply advance His kingdom.
So dear readers, from my heart to yours “It is Well With My Soul.”
Allow any change, difficulty, or hardship to bring Glory to the King and advance His Kingdom!
