“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 NKJ
In horse racing a common piece of equipment that is used to help the horse focus is called a blinker or a blinder. It is a head dressing that is used for three main purposes. First it is used to block the horse’s vision from distractions around them that can cause them to lose their concentration. Second it is used to help the horse run properly. And third it is used to help the horse develop specific skills that are needed to win the race. Trainers know that when a horse is fully focused on the track and not restless due to subtle distractions around them; the rider has a better chance of winning the race and can ride the horse with confidence.
On this journey of faith we have been on I have come to realize that Sam and I are like the horses who need the blinkers and for us the blinkers are praise, prayer, wisdom, discernment, faith, trust, and a teachable spirit. We have also come to realize that our children are the riders and their confidence on this race track of faith comes from having an assurance that we are fully focused and prepared to carry them to the finish line. As I said in a previous devotion my fifteen year old son came home unexpectedly which placed him right in the middle of this journey of faith (race) to St. Louis. This return enabled him to witness the miraculous events that led up to our departure but it also meant he would witness the setbacks, delays, distractions, and trials that accompanied them.
For us, this was an opportunity to live our Christian faith with confidence and assurance in what 1 Thessalonians 5:24 says, “The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it”, or it was an opportunity for us to show him the ugliness of the flesh and self reliance. Early on we made the decision to wear the blinker and learn the skills necessary to run this race so that our son could witness the living Gospel at work in our lives. But I have to say there were times when I wanted to rip the blinker off and grumble and complain and there were times that no matter how focused I was; distractions came into my view and I became frightened at the site of them. But God has been faithful and He has gently reminded me of the beauty of wearing the blinker.
I am so grateful that God dealt gently with me in those times because if I had ripped the blinker off and approached this journey of faith in the flesh; my actions and reactions would have wounded my son’s faith and confidence in God’s ability to perform that which He had promised. And I had no idea at the time when the call came offering us the job opportunity in St. Louis just how tested I would be in this area! But I soon found out as delays, distractions, devastation, and trials accompanied the miraculous job offer.
The first one came during the week following the offer. You see when we got the call about the job opportunity in St. Louis and were asked to be there by the first part of June, I called the moving and trucking company that had offered to move us for free and scheduled the delivery date of the pods that would be carrying our belongings. The date was set and we began packing. We also scheduled the move out date for the place where we had been living. Though our landlords would have granted us an extension if we needed it; we didn’t want to fall back on that because we knew they needed time to get the condominium rented to new tenants. So changing our moving date was not an option. But as the week unfolded an unexpected tragedy struck the man’s life that had made us the job offer and everything changed. His daughter was in a head on collision and wasn’t expected to live through the week. As you can imagine all our thoughts of our personal journey came to a halt as we focused our attention and energy on praying for her and for our friend.
As we waited for word on her condition our hearts broke at the thought of her dying, and we stood in faith with our friend and prayed continually for her recovery. Unfortunately she did not survive, but praise God she is now whole and healed in the arms of our Heavenly Father and will never suffer pain again! But with this tragedy the plans for the St. Louis office opening date were hanging in the balance because we did not discuss business during this time of tragedy and our communications with our friend were minimal. We knew this turn of events could affect the move but we kept the blinkers on and stayed focused on God’s promises in the midst of our trial.
As you can imagine the temptation to become fearful, anxious, and worried was enormous! But with each new day we kept the blinkers on and stayed in a stance of praise, prayer, faith, and trust. And the God of peace sanctified us and held us close to Himself as we were obedient to keep the blinkers on. And as we walked this out our son was watching our every move and listening closely to our every word. And what is very interesting is that on days when we did give into the temptations to be fearful, anxious, or worried, it was our son who reminded us of God’s faithfulness and he directed us to keep the blinkers on and stay focused on God’s promises! This reminder came many times over the next couple of weeks and I am so grateful it did, because this was only the beginning of the setbacks, delays, distractions, and trials we were about to face!
To be continued......
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