The Last Argument

Last night I attended a confirmation service at our church. One of the confirmation candidates, when he was asked what his life verse was, quoted James 4:17

Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Wow! I began to think about the things God has asked me to do, that I haven’t done. Oh, there are not a lot of them, but there are a few.

The honest truth is that some of the things God has asked me to do, scare me so much that they have haunted me for days and months.

One that I can think of, happened when I was a new Christian, less than a year old in the Lord. It was the summer after my senior year in high school. On October 1st of that year, I quit my rock group and told another band member that I was going to follow Jesus.

There was a man in the rest home who had been one of the school janitors. I was afraid of him because he was really grumpy. Now, this man was in the rest home, and it was known that he had greatly changed, that he cried a lot when people came to see him.

Now, God was telling me to go and see him and talk to him about knowing Jesus. That was about the hardest thing I could think of, I’m not sure why. I was painfully shy about approaching people, and if someone was cross with me, it was as if my heart would stop for fear of that kind of encounter.

Months went by and I never went. The man died. Then I felt horrible, because I could no longer obey God. The opportunity had passed, and I would have to live with it. “And where had he gone?” was the question that tormented me for years.

A few years later, my anguish was subdued when a pastor in the area was talking about this man. He had visited him in the rest home and he had given his heart to the Lord.

Well, apparently God’s prompting was for the purpose of fellowship. If I had gone I would have learned the state of this man and encouraged him. We would have had some good conversation, some good fellowship, and it would have really been cool.

What is the lesson here? When God prompts us to do something, we should just do it . . . stop thinking about it, quaking in our boots . . . and do it.

Fear is not exclusive to me or to you. Paul said of preaching to the Corinthians, “I was with you in fear and trembling.” The assignment perhaps terrified him, but he did it anyway.

In my later life, the things I am not proud of are things God asked me to do that I have not refused, but rather I have greatly procrastinated . . . I have dragged my feet, so to speak, because I am afraid. “Surely, Lord, you can find someone else to do this assignment who is better qualified than me.”

There was a time after the Columbine shootings in Colorado that God was asking me to do a large event. I didn’t want anything to do with an event because they are a huge risk. If the event goes down, I could lose everything.

I ended up doing the event which was a huge success, and I did many more events after the first one. God asked me to do the thing I didn’t want to do. How often have you heard that testimony from individuals?

When we do the thing God asks us to do that we didn’t want to do, it is the supreme test of our obedience. God does that, perhaps more for our benefit than for His. When we do the thing that is really hard, that maybe terrifies us, we have a deep sense of satisfaction that we obeyed. That satisfaction is unmatched in any other difficult situation in life.

After doing a number of events and feeling totally spent physically and emotionally I remember a conversation I had with God. Laying on my bed upstairs in our bedroom, I argued with God. “God, surely you can find someone more qualified to do these events. I feel very inadequate, and I’m not that qualified. Surely, you can find someone else.” This argument went on for about two hours. But God was persistent. “I want you to do these events,” was His only response.

Finally, I gave up. I have learned that you can never win an argument with God.

Just Do It

So how about you? Is there something God has asked you to do that you never did? Maybe you have pushed it into the back of your mind and you’re hoping God forgot about it. Or maybe you have been carrying it around and from time to time your conscience pricks you, reminding you that you should do that thing.

Well, let me give you an example. When I was in the first year of my Christian life, a man asked me what had happened to me, because there was a dramatic change in my life when I surrendered to Christ. I told him what had happened to me as best I could. Later, I gave him a Christian book . . . and that was that.

Decades later this guy was brought to my attention, and I was encouraged to call him. I got his number and for a year I procrastinated. I was apprehensive. I’m not sure why. I just felt that I had to prepare my mind and my countenance so I wouldn’t “blow” the call. “How can you ‘blow’ the call?” you ask.

Well, my temperament is melancholic. I am a musician and an artist. We melancholics are known to have extreme mood swings. Though I am usually in good spirits in public because I have learned to control my temperament, when I am home, sometimes I sink into my “cave” mood, and I don’t want to see anyone or talk to anyone. I have been known to “blow” a phone conversation if I am in one of these moods, because I can sound really “down” to the person I am talking to.

So, I wanted to be in the right frame of mind, and there was some apprehension because I hadn’t talked to this guy in decades.

Well, I finally called, he picked up, and he was super excited to hear from me. We had a great conversation and three or four times he said, “We have to get together.” We’ve had some lengthy phone conversations since then.

You see, the thing God is asking you to do that you are dreading could turn into a super blessing. So, by procrastinating you are really missing something very good God wants to give you.

We Saw The Trees And Learned That They Hate Riddles Because They Don’t Like Being Stumped

Though Lorraine and I are full time in ministry, we do several things on the side to supplement our income and keep everything moving forward. Lorraine finds items in thrift stores and garage sales that she repurposes and sells. I make some things in my wood shop that we sell.

This past month, it has been tree removal. We have done two, two-day tree jobs. It’s very hard work but it keeps us in shape.

I started with the chainsaw when I was about 15. During the winter, my dad, my brother, and I would cut pulp wood for the paper mills. So I am very comfortable falling trees and cutting them up. I enjoy climbing up in trees, and I like the roar of the chainsaw and the smell of the gas and oil. I joke that there might be something wrong with me that I like these things, but this is the way it is.

Lorraine is the limb and wood stacking lady

I cut’ em down! . . . and cut them up!

In His Service,

George and Lorraine Halama

ALL CONTRIBUTIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE

The main photo for this newsletter and two other photos of George cutting trees was taken by Lorraine

The photo of Lorraine was taken by George