Pastor's Column 10/6/2024

PASTOR’S COLUMN

“At that time Hanani the seer came to King Asa and told him, “Because you have put your trust in the king of Aram instead of the Lord your God, you missed your chance to destroy the army of the king of Aram. Don’t you remember what happened to the Ethiopians and Libyans and their vast army with all of their chariots and charioteers?” At that time you relied on the Lord, and He handed them over to you. The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war.”

2 Chronicles 16:7-9, NLT    

“Avoiding A Missed Opportunity!”

In reviewing our lives, many of us could probably remember a time when we missed an opportunity, that could have rendered more beneficial results. We are not alone. We recall the absence of Thomas on the evening of the Resurrection caused him to “miss” seeing and being in touch with His resurrected Lord. When Thomas finally saw Jesus a week later, he regretted he had made such a blunder a week earlier. Fortunately, in finally seeing Jesus a sense of shame caused Thomas to repent his mistake. We are blessed if in the aftermath of our mistakes we gain more wisdom and a greater sense of humility. King Asa trusted himself and others, rather than God, and missed an opportunity to defeat his enemies. Some decades ago, a prominent pastor of a church in the Southwest United States was a candidate for the pastoral office of a historic church in the Midwest. The chair of the pulpit committee informed the pastor he and several committee members were coming to visit his city and discreetly worship at his church’s service. They gave him a date to which he agreed, and asked if they could meet with him in his home after the service. He agreed. Somehow the pastor misplaced the date, and the visit slipped his mind. The group attended the service, discreetly as they agreed. They went to the pastor’s home after the service, but to their dismay no one was home. After making several unsuccessful calls, they boarded a plane and headed back home. The pastor never heard from the group; but learned they came by his house. He said to a friend, “I was foolish to forget the date, and missed out on an opportunity of a lifetime.”