June Newsletter 2019
So You Think
You know God?
I really grow weary of all of these brilliant Christians who have God all figured out. Undoubtedly you’ve heard some of the conversations…God always does this and God always does that. Although they don’t realize it, these Christians are showing that they really don’t understand the nature of God.
My longest and strongest mentor of 25 years, was Pastor G. Mark Denyes, who has now gone to his reward. He had a saying he used often, “My God sits in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases.” He also said something else that revealed his wisdom, “The older I get, the more I know how much I don’t know.”
Brooks Gibbs is a long-time friend that I met when we produced our first outreach event. Brooks was one of our speakers who came from the Columbine shootings, and I used him in events for about thirteen years after that first one. Brooks eventually became a highly sought after speaker, who is presently booked about two years out. In a short period of time, he received over 100 million hits on his web site.
There was a period of time when things were a struggle for Brooks. He was not getting speaking engagements, he was not making near enough money, and in short, he was having a really tough time of it. He tried a number of different things during that period and none of them seemed to work. Try as he might to get God’s leading, through that period of time God didn’t say much.
Shortly before he reached the end of that season and things started to turn for him, he said to me in deep frustration, “I know one thing. You can’t figure out God!”
It’s true. I have walked with God for several decades now, and still I reach times when I haven’t got a clue what He’s up to. In those times, things don’t develop at all like I think they should. I try this and that to try to move things along and nothing works. Usually at the end of such times I learn why He held things up, but while I’m going through the process, I don’t have a clue.
If there is anything God is, this is for sure, God is unpredictable!
Why is that?
Well, you could site many possible answers.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are My ways higher than your ways,
and My thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:9 NKJV
He sees the end from the beginning, not just the little window of life we are experiencing at the time, so what He does on our behalf often does not line up at all with the puny little bit of knowledge that we have in the situation.
That’s one reason you can’t predict what He is going to do.
Another one, I think, is that He is very orderly in what He does on our behalf, and things need to happen in a certain order. If you get the order mixed up, the end result will not be what He wants it to be. That’s why I have gotten in the habit of asking Him what I should do next. I really only have to know the next thing. If I complete that assignment, He will give me the next one. I don’t have to know the big picture, because if I always do the thing He is telling me to do at the time, the big picture will come together in a magnificent manner.
If you want to appear wise, don’t pretend to know what God is going to do in any given situation. Just say, “My God sits in the heavens. He does whatever He pleases.”
Quiet Influence
There was a man in my hometown as I was growing up who had a great influence on me. In my troubled journey through my childhood and teen years, he was always there like an oak tree in the community…solid, strong, constant, never changing.
He didn’t say a lot about his faith, but he lived it. Everyone knew where he stood with God. Whenever his paths crossed with others in the community, people watched their tongues, careful not to use profanity.
When God was working on me, asking me to give my life to Him, Alfred (Bud) Petrowske was the one I talked to, to try to sort it all out. When I did surrender my life to Christ, his family became like a second family to me.
His life illustrates the presence of Christ in the believer, and that presence alone, even without words, makes an impact on those with whom that one comes in contact with. The presence of Christ in that life becomes like a lighthouse that shines through the community. There are some, or perhaps many who secretly want what that person has.
That was the case with me. Though he had no idea, I secretly wanted what he had…the peace, the presence, the fellowship of Almighty God.
On January 30, 2019, at the age of 96, Bud went home to be with the Lord. Only eternity, itself, will reveal the effect he had on the pilgrims of this earth while he was here.
Faithful
By Lorraine
10 “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.
11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
12 And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?”
Luke 16:10-12 NKJV
Life is full of responsibilities that we all have to deal with on a daily basis. Some of our responsibilities are small, such as taking out the garbage while other responsibilities are big, such as meeting a dead line at work. As a result, we still need to be faithful to giving our attention to each and every detail.
Why? There are some obvious reasons, such as if you do not take the garbage out of your house on a timely basis you will probably find that there is not only an overflow of trash by the garbage can, but there is also a smell. Over time if you continue to let the trash just spill all over, you will discover you have attracted bugs and mice. These uninvited guests are not only in your garbage, but are now in you kitchen cabinets eating your food.
You would probably consider the trash as the least of your responsibilities compared to getting a project done at work on time, but look at the problem this small responsibility can cause if you are not faithful in taking care of it in a timely manner.
If we want God to bless us in our lives we have to prove to Him that we are faithful to what He has put before us. Are we faithful in taking care of our bodies, spiritual growth, our relationship with God, spouse, family and friends? The list goes on and on, but God wants to see if He can trust you with what He has already given you before He gives you more.
Be thoughtfully intentional about being faithful to everything in your life. Does this mean that you will be perfect at being faithful to all things? No. God is not interested in perfection. He is interested in your heart. If He sees that you work really hard at being intentional in spending time with Him, because you love Him, He will cause your relationship to grow with Him and bless the desires of your heart. If God sees that you are intentional about taking the garbage out for your spouse because you really want to be a blessing, then God will bless you.
As you prove to God that you are faithful to all things before you, the least and the much, then He can trust you to be faithful to bigger things. He will increase you.
One day you might go to work and find that you have a promotion because you were faithful to the least of the tasks of your job.
I believe that God wants us to treat the least and the much as being equally important to be faithful to. Because if the least is neglected it becomes a big problem just like not being faithful in taking out your garbage. It turns into chaos.
I encourage you to think of the things that are the “least” that you need to be faithful to and the things that are “much” that you need to be faithful to. Are there some areas that you could be more faithful in? How are you going to try to be intentional about being more faithful in those areas? Then…just do it. Watch and see how the Lord blesses you.
Just remember that you are not going to be perfect. That is not the goal. The goal is to be more Christ minded in how you demonstrate your faithfulness and to have a heart that is pleasing to God. A trustworthy heart.
Be Blessed,
Be Faithful and
Be Who God Intended You To Be.
In His Service,
George and Lorraine Halama
All Contributions are tax deductible
Photos of the letter addressed to God at post office were created and taken by Lorraine