Because our one & only sleeper bus is still not ambulatory after being in the hospital since mid-February, I was forced to surrender our annual trip to Jekyll Island. Instead, I helped secure 3 x 15 passenger vans for a group heading there this week w/o Lynn and me since we are no longer needed.
No longer needed!
What a message.
While pondering what to do about a sleeper bus, I’m reading the heart-wrenching book of Ecclesiastes (aka, The Preacher). I’m also pundering why God hasn’t thrown a monkey wrench at the mechanic rather than to throw it into my noble & God-honoring plans? Why doesn’t the mechanic prioritizes and finish our bus to be of service to share the love of Christ?
Ecclesiastes is a book of subtleties that crashes in like a violent & unwelcome storm to uproot pillars of faith, wash away historic footings & force us to rethink our knowledge of God. Like driving down a hairpin mountain curve & suddenly seeing the highway swept away by an avalanche (yes that’s happened to us on a Go West trip!), the Spirit of the Living God is bringing me to a screeching halt. Yet, like the Preacher in Ecclesiastes, I’m uncertain what the future holds. Is it merely:
A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? Ecc 324-25
No matter how many times we’ve learned to live with the unexpected, “roll with the punches”, adapt to change, survive & grow by faith, etc., this constant battery of testing & evaluation exposes and flattens the foundation on which we are built.
Last night a contractor pointed out a crack in our cement patio suspended 5′ off the ground by a brick wall that also has substantial cracks and is pulling away from the house. He recommends renting a jack hammer to take it down before it collapses under our weight. Maybe “It’s a time to tear down and a time to build.” Ecc 3:3
Can the same be said about our service (aka ministry)? Are we no longer needed? Or is the Spirit showing us a flaw in our foundation to “test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” Ecc 2:2
I hope my heart passes the test “to seek first the kingdom of God” (Mt 6:33). But the reality is I might only want Him to add more goodies like a new bus or a deck, and other toys for joy.
