My friend Joel posted some pictures on facebook from our Bible study fellowship of 30 years ago. With a mixture of joy and sadness I looked over each photo. In many cases I could not remember the specific events but boy did I remember those people!
Face after face I remembered conversations, joys, struggles, hopes, dreams. I heard their laughter again and saw again the light of Christ in their eyes. I longed to be with them again. How grateful to God I am for them and those times.
Then there is my bookstore family. I will forever thank God for the honor of knowing and loving these wonderful people. Words fail me….
The past few months have been ones of tremendous change and transition. My job of twenty-five years ended, my mother-in-law died, dear friends had parents die, my son turned 17, I developed tmj which has left a constant ringing in my ears, my mom entered a nursing home…and on and on.
Then I remember…God. Odd is it not to forget the most unforgettable person you have ever met? I look back over the photos of the Bible study group. I pulled out the photos of the bookstore staff. And I remembered. I remembered it was Jesus’ love for me and them that brought us all together. I remembered His sovereignty and providence over all my life. I remembered His utter delight in offering Himself as a sacrifice for sin so that I could know this Father and be brought into His life.
So with my Older Brother looking over my shoulder I ponder the changes. I see Him point out “look there I was in that photo. Do you see now what I was doing?” I nod yes. He points again “ Remember when you thought that was hopeless?” He smiles a wry smile. I look at the past year and hear “ I am that I am, and I will never leave you.”
The lyrics from a Cindy Morgan song softly come to mind as if whispered,
“So many things I thought would bring me happiness
Some dreams that are realities today
Such an irony the things that mean the most to me
Are the memories that I've made along the way
Jesus behind me, Jesus before me, Jesus with me. The day will come when together these cherished friends we will worship with unveiled faces the One who loves us best and the glory of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. Even so come Lord Jesus.
About Me
- Tim Rogers
- I am a Christian man in his 50's. I am a bivocational pastor which means I work a real job in addition to helping out at a church. One of my passions is to see God's people living out a living relationship with Christ.
2 comments:
As Melissa sings to me "How Could I Ask For More" from Cindy Morgan....thanks for this emotional and healing post.
I love you man!
Good words, Tim.
I too felt a mixture of sadness and joy looking at those old photos. Sadness in that thirty years have gone by in a blink. Joy in the memories of those wonderful brothers and sisters in that sweet time. Sadness in that those days are long gone, but joy in that they will come again in another place without the pain of separation.
I am convinced that the closest thing we have to heaven on earth is those eternal friendships that are the result of being in battle together (be it physical or spiritual) and that provide a taste of the true fellowship that He intended all of us to experience.
Thanks Tim for reminding me that it is the Lord's smile on my old friend's young faces that I miss and long for.
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