One Ride, Two Perspectives

Last night Dan and I took a quad ride on the Little Manistee ORV Loop. We left well after 8:00 pm and knew that we would lose daylight soon. It was a beautiful night with almost a full moon. The trail had just been groomed. It was a perfect night for a ride. We saw at least 10 deer and two of them were bucks. As we traveled and we lost sunlight I started to question where we were. I started thinking I took a wrong turn because everything looked different. I have ridden this trail many times but when darkness fell I started to question if I was on the right path. I started thinking about my life and realized that too often this is when I start to doubt. When things get dark or I can’t see what’s ahead I start to ask questions and doubt what God has planned for me. The ORV trail is marked and there are not many turns going off of it. I just have to follow the signs and the trail. Proverbs 3:5-6 states: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

God knows what is best for us. He has a plan laid out for our lives with signs along the way to direct our paths. We need to let go push our doubts aside and enjoy the ride. We (I) spend too much time worry about what’s ahead and sometime miss the joys of the day. So as I go about my week I am going to be in God’s Word and follow his leading. Remember Psalm 119:105 says: Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Trust HIM!

Hey, this is Dan. In reading Chad’s post above, I was inspired to add my own perspective.When Chad had asked me if I wanted to go, I was conflicted. I’d just spent about three hours traipsing through heavy brush and bogs looking for the flora and fauna of God’s creation. After that, I threw hay bales for another 45 minutes or so. That said, I was already pretty exhausted, but there’s something in me that just can’t turn down the chance to ride. As tired as I was, the adrenaline was rushing through me and I was ready to go!

Hitting the trails, the first thing I noticed was how smooth they were after just being groomed. It would have been awesome to simply enjoy the sights as we cruised over flat trails. Quickly, though, I noticed that I couldn’t really see much because it was so dry that the dust clouded my vision. As darkness fell, it began becoming incredibly difficult to see anything… including some of the sharp turns on the trail. I fell further and further back from Chad, hoping the distance would dissipate the dust and allow me to see.

Though this was effective in letting me see the trail a little better, it had another effect on me… loneliness. It’s amazing how reassuring it is to see the red tail lights of another vehicle when you’re on a winding path through the dark wilderness. It made me think about how often, because of fear, I slowdown in my pursuit of God in order to attempt to see the twists and turns in the path ahead of me. That’s not what we’re called to do! We’re called to charge ahead, pursuing God full throttle and trusting that the light ahead of us will guide us to safety. Unfortunately, because of my distance from Chad and my focus on the trail, I missed most of what he saw. I was so focused on not getting hurt that I neglected the beauty that God surrounded me with.

Psalms 56:3 says “When I am afraid, I put my trust in You.”  Also, Deuteronomy 4:29 says “But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find Him, if you search after Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” See, God doesn’t want us to seek Him with some of ourselves but with all of our heart and soul! It takes a lot of faith to do this but as Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.” It is going to be dark, dusty and difficult on the path of life but God provides a light for our way. My lesson from that ride is this, charge after God full throttle!

As leaders (dad’s, mom’s, boss’s, pastors, teachers…) we need to be aware of the needs and perspectives of those following us. Don’t move so far ahead that all the people who are following you only see your taillights. Don’t leave them so far behind that they feel alone and lost. How do we bring those that are following alongside us so they can see the big picture? As followers how do we push ourselves to come alongside full throttle?

Break Our Hearts For What Breaks Yours

This weekend has been awesome and difficult. Saturday we celebrated the homecoming of our daughter Rosalynn who we were supposed to adopt 14 years ago. God has brought her back home after 12 years. It was an awesome day introducing Rosalynn to our friends and family that knew her the first 2 years of her life. We wish we could have protected her from the past 12 years, but she is with us now. We are so grateful to have our daughter home. That evening I went to check in on a group that had been serving at camp. They were having a service around the campfire as I sat in the shadows my heart began to break as I heard and saw teenager after teenager stand up and share what they were struggling with. After each person shared I watched their peers and adult leaders come up and wrap their arms around them and pray for them. I began to circle the fire and pray for what was happening God was moving in the minds and hearts of these young teenagers. As I went home to go to bed I laid awake praying for these young hearts that are dealing with a lot of garbage that they should not have to face in a lifetime not to mention as teenagers.

It was a short night and as I got up to travel to Banner Church in Byron Center, Michigan where I was preaching that morning. I could not shake that group of youth from my mind so I continued in prayer on my two hour drive.  As I was gathering for prayer with the worship team a young friend came in to say hello. Jayson an 7 year old that is fighting bone cancer. I told Jayson that I and the camp staff had been praying for him. He put his head on my chest and just laid there. As I hugged Jayson I continued to let him know I was praying and would keep praying for him as I fought back the tears.

During the service the worship team sang the song "Jesus, Friend of Sinners" by Casting Crowns. As I listened to the words the pictures from the last 24 hours were playing like a video in my mind. As we sang the words "Jesus, friend of sinners break our hearts for what breaks yours” I realized that God is breaking my heart for what breaks his. This morning I have a renewed commitment for creating an environment for people young and old to come and meet with Jesus in a personal way. And to live out Camp Living Waters mission statement everyday: Serving and Loving People, So They May Know and Grow In Jesus Christ. Please join me in prayer for our hurting teens and their future.

Ancient GPS

Every once in a while we'll be posting some devotionals written by former staff members. Hope you enjoy them. God Bless! ~ Dan

 

“By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.” - Exodus 13:21-22

The Israelites were just taken out of their homes in Egypt where they were slaves to Pharaoh. Now they were wandering through the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. They were in enemy territory, always on the move, and probably pretty hot and tired. And what’s worse? They had no idea where they were going. However, they had one HUGE thing going for them. They had God with them, watching out for them, and leading them. God would lead them through the desert as a cloud during the day, which probably helped to keep the Israelites under some shade from the hot sun. And then at night, God would lead them as a fire, which would not only provide the light that the Israelites needed in order to see where they were going, but would also be able to provide some warmth during their travels.

There will be times in your life when you feel as though you’re “wandering in the wilderness.” You might be the only Christian in your family or your group of friends. You may feel as though you’re walking around in circles, with no idea which direction to go in. Maybe you’ve wandered off the path a bit, and are looking to get back onto the path God laid out for you. Or maybe you’re right where you feel that God wants you, but you have come to an important decision and are wondering where God wants you to go from here.

Just like back with the Israelites, God is in our lives, leading us down His path. All you need to do is to seek out His will by reading His Word, and talk to Him about it, asking God to reveal His plans to you. The important thing is to trust that God knows what He’s doing, and that He’s right there with you every step of the way.

 

Three Days of Ministry, One Missed Appointment.

This past weekend we had the privilege of being apart of Unity Christian Music Festival. Over the 3 days that we were there we talked to many people about Camp Living Waters. We prayed with several people for a variety of things and people prayed for us. We caught up with people that we had not seen since last year and celebrated joys and grieved sorrows with each other. All this while watching and listening to Christian recording artists and sponsoring ministries. Many had shared great stories of how God was using them to spread the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ throughout the world. On Friday evening after two days of rain God sent a rainbow directly over the crowd and the stage as if to say "I Am here and still in control." What a truly amazing way to spend three days.

As I was leaving Friday night to make the 2 hour drive back to CLW I was in a steady stream of people that were leaving to travel back to their homes. I looked up to see an older man sitting on a well used bicycle facing the stream of Christians leaving the festival. What I noticed is that no one seemed to notice the man standing right in front of us. I made eye contact and gave a head nod and said "Hey, how are you?" and then walked on like I really did not care how he was. As I got 100 yards further I felt like I need to talk to this man. His eyes told a story of hurt and emptiness and need.

I walked on, got in my car and made the 2 hour drive back to my warm, happy home. The next day as I prepared to speak at Countryside United Brethren Church in Breckenridge, Michigan I could not shake this man's eyes or the fact that I walked by. See I was speaking on God's to do list for each of us. Ephesians 2:10 states "¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." My agenda was to be at Unity Christian Music Festival to promote Camp Living Waters and to bring more people to camp so that we might be able to minister to them. I try to pray each morning that God will fill my agenda, that I would be doing the things that he wants me to do, those things he has planned in advance for me to do. Friday night with this man's eyes staring at me, I walked by. I walked by and I believe I missed the one thing God had on my agenda for Friday, August 10, 2012. This man was not waiting for the crowd to walk by he had a wide opening that he could have just kept riding. He was there with needs and waiting for me to stop and really care how he was. I am praying that I have another opportunity for this appointment and that I will not miss others that God has planned for me. Whats on your to do list today?

The Beauty of Being Still

Be still and know that I am God
Psalm 46:10

   It's easy to spot the beautiful archway over the road at the entrance of Camp Living Waters. What isn't so easy is to spot a tiny sign that lines the road just as you come in. (No, not the speed limit sign.) This sign really portrays the heart of CLW and simply states the verse above. The beauty is that there is no need for an explanation on this sign. People get why its there and what it means.

   What is really cool is that the simple verse lining our road is evident in what we do. Sure there's activities but we're not going for huge adventure stuff. In the coming months I'm going to work on developing our nature program. One of our goals is to expand the Ranch program by building some rustic cabins for campers. We want them to feel separate from main camp so they can be still with their horses. Another project is Colston Lodge which will be another meeting area so that people can get away from the bustle of the rest of camp.

   It is in the creation and growth of an organization that you see its heart. God is very much the same way! We can see in His creation the heart that makes the world spin. He loves us so much that He created a gentle stream flowing over a rocky bed or the wind rustling leaves on a sunny day. We hear the call of the loon or the eagle and our hearts are stirred to stillness so we can listen eagerly for more. Sitting on the edge of Stewart Lake, we can spend hours watching the fish rise on the glassy surface. You see, God created these things for us to enjoy and feel His love in.

    Camp Living Waters is a place where we can truly get away and 'be still.' The last week or two I've been blessed with silence on camp and have enjoyed it immensely. Have I missed the sound of kids playing and running around on camp, yes. But the true beauty of being still is that it prepares and refreshes us to go back into a world full of craziness in order to minister to those around us. Please pray that this retreat season we'll be able to live the heart of God in the simple stillness of camp.

   Serving and loving people so they may know and grow in Jesus Christ!