Tag: Abraham

Posted in Family, fear, forgiveness, Grace, gratitude, life, love, loving others, prayer, Scripture, thankful, Trials

God’s Keen on You

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

Yet You made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.” Psalm 8:5

I was never good at it.  I’m not sure where it all started.  My wife Judy will occasionally ask me, “So where did it come from?”  And, my answer, is always the same, “I just don’t know.”  That thing, that “it”, is the issue of low self-esteem.  Now, in a world where too many people think too much of themselves, you might think that is a virtue…but it’s not.  In a world that could use a healthy dose of humility, you might think that is something to be valued…but it’s not. In fact, someone once said whether you are thinking too much of yourself or too little…you are still thinking of yourself and that is called pride.

But the real problem with a low view of ourselves is that we find it is in direct conflict with God’s view.  Now don’t let this go to your head…but He is keen on you.  He thought so much of you and so desired a relationship with you, that He sent His Son on a mission to die for the sins of the whole world—including you.  Now that is amazing.  So even though I often doubt myself—God never does.  Even though I often think I can’t, He believes I can. And even though I was always the last chosen for the team, He picks me every time…and not last.

A guy named Matt Tullos wrote a story about all the reasons that God could have used not to choose us…and there are a lot.  But it is comforting to know that most everyone He used in the Bible was broken, flawed, or scarred.  I mean, I know we all are, but some of these folks were real, excuse me, losers. Look at this list from Matt’s story.

“There are many reasons why God shouldn’t have called you to be His child.  But don’t worry.  You’re in good company.  Moses stuttered.  David was too small, and his armor didn’t fit.  John Mark was a quitter and was rejected by Paul.  Timothy had ulcers.  Hosea’s wife was a prostitute.  Amos’ only training was in the school of fig-tree pruning.  Jacob was a liar.  David had an affair.

Solomon was too rich. Abraham was too old.  David was too young.  Peter was afraid of death.  Lazarus was dead.  John was self-righteous.  Naomi was a widow.  Paul was a murderer.  So was Moses.  Jonah ran from God.  Miriam was a gossip.  Gideon and Thomas both doubted.  Jeremiah was depressed and suicidal.  Elijah was burned out.  John the Baptist was a loudmouth.  Martha was a worrywart.  Mary was lazy.  Samson had long hair.  Noah got drunk. Did I mention that Moses had a short fuse?  So did Peter, Paul–well, lots of folks did.

But God doesn’t require a job interview.  He doesn’t hire and fire like most bosses because He’s more our Father than our Boss.  He doesn’t look at financial gain or loss.  He’s not prejudiced or partial, not judging, grudging, sassy, or brassy, not deaf to our cry, not blind to our need. As much as we try, God’s gifts are free.  We could do wonderful things for wonderful people and still not be….wonderful.  Satan says, “You’re not worthy.”  Jesus says, “So what?  I am.”  Satan looks back and sees our mistakes.  God looks back and sees the cross.  He doesn’t calculate what you did in ‘78.  It’s not even on the record.”

I like that a lot.  Matt’s got one more thing to say. He says, “Sure.  There are lots of reasons why God shouldn’t call us to be His child…to serve.  But if we are magically in love with Him, if we hunger for Him more than our next breath, He’ll use us, in spite of who we are, where we’ve been, or what we look like.  Whether we are pastors, missionaries, teachers, deacons, ushers, or nursery workers, we should step out of our limitations into the limitless nature of who God is.  Then our passion for God and our passion to communicate Him will make mincemeat of our limitations.”

How incredible is all of that.  Let me shock you with what God’s word says about you. It says of us, “Yet You [God] made them [that would be us] only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.” Wow! So today, let’s tackle the day like we believe what God believes about us. Let’s charge forward like the starting quarterback that God says we are.  No, we are not perfect, not even close, but we do have a King who is.  And if are Jesus followers, well, our Dearest Daddy longs to whisper in our ears, “I love you, I believe in you and no matter what, I’ve got this.” Bro. Dewayne

Posted in Family, fear, forgiveness, friends, gratitude, life, loving others, priorities, Scripture, Southern born, thankful, Trials

Wait and See

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” Genesis 17:17

I quit just a little too soon.  I think there must have been this line in heaven where all the babies wait to be assigned dads, moms, skills, and bodies in heaven.  I can just imagine me standing there waiting.  I am watching as all the boy babies make it to the front and they are soon on their way with these bodies that are destined to be tall and muscular.  They make the jump to earth and their new homes just waiting to grow up and become the next Babe Ruth or Michael Jordan.  I can also imagine my turn at the front of the line and Saint Peter saying something about sports and I miss understood and thought he said something about ketchup, and I said, “Sure, I’ll take a squirt.” Anyway, I arrived on earth a little shorter than average and not a sports bone in my body.  I should have listened more closely.

All this became pretty apparent when it came to choosing teams.  Whether it was kickball, volleyball, basketball, dodgeball, or baseball, when the teams were chosen, I was near the end of the line. As far as school sports are concerned, well, there were hundreds of kids in the schools I attended and trust me no one ever offered me a contract.  The only place I had a measure of success was, of course, at church.  I managed to make the church softball team though it was the “B” team. We did play tackle football after our Bible study time on Wednesday nights and there I made a name for myself. One of our teachers was named Eddie and he was, well, one large man and no one could tackle him, so they called him “Big Eddie.”  While I wasn’t nearly that large, I was harder to tackle so I gained the name “Little Eddie.”  Hey, when you are nameless in the world of sports, you will take anything.

My only foray into “professional sports” was Little League baseball when I was about 9 or 10.  I don’t remember if I made the team, or if everyone made the team.  Regardless, we were called the Gators and we, or rather they, were pretty good.  Again, I had absolutely no talent in baseball, so I was assigned to right field on the rare occasions that I got to play.  I was the kid who prayed a lot during the games.  It wasn’t that I was particularly spiritual—it was emotional survival.  First, I would pray that they wouldn’t play me and then, if they did, I would pray that no one would hit the ball to right field.  It didn’t work. Invariably someone would and well, it wasn’t good.

Then, of course, there was the batting thing.  Did you know that there are players who say they can see the stitches on the ball as it comes toward them?  Did you know there are players who know when and how to swing?  Can you guess I wasn’t one of those players?  Nope, the pitcher would pitch, and I would wonder where the ball was. That wasn’t pretty either.  So, the sad (you are feeling sorry for me by now, aren’t you) bottom line is that one day I just refused to go to practice.  I made it through about three quarters of the season, and I just gave it up—I quit.

Well, guess what?  It turns out that even without me, the Gators ended up winning the championship.  Yup, they sure did.  I remember, the coach came by my house one evening and he was carrying a trophy.  He said that the team had won it all and even though I hadn’t finished the season, he wanted me to have a trophy.  I probably mumbled something about quitting because I was hit by a semi-truck and thanked him for bringing the trophy by.  The truth was there was no excuse—I just quit. And the other truth is because of that, the trophy meant absolutely, the grand total of—nothing.  I didn’t earn it and I didn’t deserve it.  Not because I wasn’t good, but because I didn’t finish.

I really don’t have a lot of regrets in life but that is a small one I do own.  I’m ok with not being tall and gifted in sports, but I’m not ok with being a quitter.  Not then—not now. If I had waited, I could have been a champion, but I didn’t wait it out.  You know there was a guy in the Bible who had the same issue.  God had promised him a son, an heir.  The only problem was he and his wife were old—really old.  In fact, when God told him he was going to have a son, this guy fell on his face and laughed and said, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

Instead of believing God, he decided to do things his way or really Sarah’s way. Since she couldn’t conceive, they opted for a concubine rather than wait on the miracle.  What a bad idea.  He and the concubine did have a son, but it wasn’t the son God had promised.  It really didn’t go well…and sadly it still isn’t going well.  Much of the conflict in that part of the world stems from this one man.  Oh, the consequences.

Oh, and by the way, guess what?  When they were both older than dirt, Sarah, his wife did in fact conceive and the promised son was born.  God came through after all—surprise, surprise.  If only they had finished the season…if only they had waited, how different things would have been.  The good news is that God kept His word and blessed Abraham beyond his wildest dreams. You see even though Abraham quit believing, God never quit believing in him…and He won’t quit believing in you either.  I like that…actually, I love that.  Regardless of what you are waiting on, just hang on…just be patient, just wait and see what God has in mind. He’s never late and He’s never early, He’s right on time because He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne