I know I have been a little slow on posting lately but I have been putting my spare time into reading a great book. I am also through with it and I will post some thoughts once I am done. The book is called Launch by Nelson Searcy and Kerrick Thomas. It has been such an accurate portrayal of church planting without a lot of big words to confuse the message. It has been a big encouragement to me so far and I still have 50 pages left.

Anyways…back to the topic for today. I ran across this article in my Biblezine this morning and I really liked it.

Hindsight is usually better than the ability to forecast the future. In the middle of a crisis at work, it is tempting to wonder why you are going through such an experience. Similarly, if an emergency affects your family, you may ponder why you have to deal with it.

Some people feel strongly that we can’t know the reasons behind events and that it is not right to question God about such matters. Yet Paul wrote an inquiring letter to his friend Philemon (15-16) about the run away-slave-turned-Christian Onesimus.

The apostle found it valuable to reflect on the lessons from an experience after the fact. He wanted to use hindsight as a tool to grow his faith, saying, “Maybe Onesimus was separated from you for a short time so you could have him back forever.” Paul had zeal for life and wanted to make sure he learned from every experience so he wouldn’t be doomed to repeat those mistakes in the future. The next time you face a crisis, remind yourself to look for the lessons God wants you to learn. Who knows? You may find clarity without the help of hindsight.

I find myself today looking for lessons to learn. There are so many areas that I can’t wait to testify, “But God…” because undoubtedly He is moving me toward some amazing testimonies. As many of you are aware this weekend was intended to be our parenting seminar. We had high hopes for 150 people from the area to attend and for us to not only minister to them with parenting techniques but to also expose them to InDependence. After putting our advertisement in 20,000 homes TWICE we had one couple sign up. Yes, only one couple. The even funnier thing was we were going to let that couple come for free if they would help us sign people in and work the resource table.

So…even though I haven’t learned the lesson yet, and I am not sure how God is going to get the glory, (but I know He will) I am going to praise Him. Why? For a lot of reasons:
1. He is God.
2. His saving grace.
3. He is still operating in my life.
4. His protecting hand.
5. His encouraging words.

Specifically:
6. I didn’t have a complete meltdown and fall apart with thoughts of failure. (Okay so I had a minor pity party, but it passed quickly because the first preview service is just 5 weeks away and there are too many other things to do.)
7. My wife and I will be better parents for our son and any children He blesses us with in the future.
8. We didn’t loose any money with the Hyatt because they are going to allow us to reschedule an event with them.
9. I believe that we did what He asked us to do, and my faith will be stronger because of it.
10. I have trusted Him with my life and He has never let me down. This is His church I am blessed enough to help Him build it. So the load is not mine to carry.

So get your eyes tested. Can you see God’s hand at work in your situation?