Getting Our Attention

He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.

PSALM 18:16

Three major events lead to the fall of 2015 being one of the most challenging times of my life.  Due to an errant business decision, we were forced to file bankruptcy. My grandmother’s boyfriend of more than a decade lost his life in a car accident just days before Christmas and I was denied bereavement leave because he “wasn’t family.”  I bombed an interview at work for an advancement opportunity I felt was the next step in my professional journey.  These three separate events compounded; I was in crisis mode.  As 2015 came to a close, I found myself questioning several of my life decisions.

Just days into the new year, God reminded me of a desire He had placed on my heart years earlier.  God would never force His will on me, but I was finally at a place where I was ready to listen to what He had been saying.  Soon I found myself standing in Pastor Gary Woodruff’s office asking how I could start the process to become a pastor.  The trajectory of my life had been altered.

I remember calling my mom to tell her I had decided to start the pastoral education process.  She laughed and responded, “It’s about time.  Even as a little boy you would set up your congregation of stuffed animals and preach a mighty message.”

God can use our times of silence, times of corporate worship or seemingly insignificant events to speak into our lives.  He can also use crises in our lives — whether sickness, accidents, job loss, divorce, or even three consecutive major life events — to get our attention. There are few other times God can get through to us with such crystal clarity than our times of crisis.  God can use these crises of life to jar us, to wake us up, to get our attention.  In our uncomfortable experiences He desires to get through to us.  In those moments we can change our focus as well as our direction.

We must never forget that God not only comforts us in our times of affliction but can also arouse us from a state of complacency.  These encounters with God, while they may be uncomfortable, are teachable moments — that is, if that we are listening.

Whatever the crisis, God can use it to focus our attention on Him.  He may not be calling every one of us to become a pastor, but He has a plan for each of our lives if we will listen when He speaks to us.

PRAYER

God, please speak and have your way in my life that I might follow you.  Open my ears and allow me to hear your voice.  Take hold of me and pull me towards You.  Amen

Pastor Vic