,Why am I here?

This question is not intended to suggest that I do not know why I am here on this earth. For that matter, it is not even intended to give anyone the impression that I do not know why I am a resident of Anderson County in the upstate of South Carolina. In fact, it does far more than suggest anything of the sort. From the biblical perspective, I am here on this present earth to live a life of faith, trust, and obedience: faith and trust in the great Lord and Savior who delivered me from sin and its resulting judgment, and obedience to Him any way He has chosen for me to live out my remaining days in this present, sin-corrupted world. As for my living out my remaining pilgrim days in Anderson County, it is because this is where God has purposed me to be at this time. He may or may not have my wife and me to live anywhere else during our remaining time on this earth. But we will live wherever He so desires for us to live, and right now, this is the place.

In my personal study of the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit is showing me how faith, trust, and obedience were very much at work in the lives of men like Peter, James, John, Stephen, and finally, Paul. There was a time earlier in my years as a Christian when I thought that these men were exceptional, in that God had made them to be above the ordinary human population. But I had later discovered through a deeper study of God's Word, that these and other great men of the Bible who followed God and were used by Him in extraordinary ways, differed from so-called average men only in their faith. In essence, and I want to be very careful in the most reverent sense when I state this, these were all ordinary men who chose to trust a very extraordinary God, with an extraordinary faith.

I honestly believe that God will mightily use any man, woman, or young person who is willing to submit to His rightful authority over their lives. They do not have to be super talented or endowed with a superior intellect. I do not desire to say that with the intent of deliberately offending certain readers, but such assets can be far more a liability than an asset when it comes to one's being useful to God. Several accounts are given in God's Word to affirm this, so then please feel free to take up this matter with Him, not me. God is showing me that the life He has given to me here has true worth and value only when my life is daily placed in His complete control. He chooses the low things of this world, not the high and mighty, to serve and honor Him. He delights far more in doing His greatest work through an old empty rusted out bucket that knows it is empty, than He does in a pot full of gold that often gloats in its being full, but ends up being too full for God to do anything with it except set it on a shelf to collect dust. This means every hope, dream, and ambition, including personal plans, have to be completely surrendered to Him. In addition, even my most prized possessions must be recognized as His. This includes members of my family: my wife, children, and grandchildren. Nothing I have is really mine, Everything, myself included, is His, and He, being God, has every sovereign right to determine every outcome. In short, God wants to empty us before He fills us.

I must admit that as I read and study the lives and ministries of these men covered in the Word, I sometimes feel a bit threatened as well as convicted in my heart. This is because of the sacrifice these early saints made to be and do what their Lord patterned them to be and do for Him. Through the entire Bible are examples of faith that was stronger than the human will. Abraham went out from his own kin after he believed He heard God call him, while not knowing just where he was to go. But once he started on his faith journey, he learned in time that God was leading him toward the land called Canaan. Jeremiah surrendered to the call from his God to be a prophet after God had told him no one would listen to his message and respond favorably to his preaching. And once Peter, James, John, and Stephen got a big filling from the Holy Spirit, their only aim from then on was to persuade lost people to believe the gospel and be saved. Even time in jail and receiving whip lashes from their religious adversaries did not stop them from living out God's purpose for their lives. Saul became Paul after the Lord got hold of him, and after that miraculous life-changing encounter with the Lord on Damascus Road, nothing mattered to Paul but living his entire life for the Savior. Little wonder he was glad to pen these words to believers at Philippi: "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Phil. 1:21 And in another verse, "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ." 3:7

It is tempting to choose the easy way, or to get so enamored with the pleasures of this temporal life, that it becomes hard to turn loose of it all and follow Christ no matter what. But this is not the life! I honestly believe that knowing this truth, will serve to transform the unresolved Christian into one fully resolved to live for God's promise of betters things to come. The life which really matters is the one we cannot see with our fleshly eyes, but long to see with faith's eyes. As for this present life, it is temporal, that is, it is very temporary, very short. In fact, as I heard one old preacher put it, "This life is a training base for the one to come." Another grand old saint said that "the whole reason for Christian education down here is to teach God's people how to live one day up there." The late, great missionary to the Aucas told his wife Elizabeth only a few days prior to his being killed by those Indians that "No man is a fool who is willing to lose what he cannot keep, in order to gain what he cannot lose." Those words echo the timeless words of our Savior:

"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whoso-
ever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it." Matthew 16:25

And regardless of what we who are God's elect people may have to go through down here on this present earth, that will be nothing compared to the glories awaiting God's faithful when this life is finally over. Over this past year, the Lord has been helping me to see a much farther reaching enterprise in the words of Paul, recorded in Romans 8:18:

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be
revealed in us."