September 28 God Knows… 2 Corinthians 5:17
** October 2, 2022, Baptist Tabernacle Church will celebrate Homecoming. This is our 100th Homecoming Service. Spread the word… Hope to see you there! **
Good morning from Pastor Glen Brock, Baptist Tabernacle Church, Wendell, North Carolina… “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Several years ago, I was hiking the trails of the Cliffs of the Neuse State Park, with a couple of my buddies, and we decided that we were going to break the rules and climb the cliff. I began the climb, and my buddies were beside of me, and we were excited to make this happen. I was almost to the top, and I realized that I was the only one there. My buddies had quietly stopped climbing and slid back down to the riverbank. Then it happened! I began to feel the ground give way under my feet and the dirt began to shift and I could feel myself rapidly moving downwards towards the river, with nothing between me and the rapid moving waters of the Neuse River. What was I to do? As I slid down the 90’ face of this obstacle, I quickly realized that I had a choice. I could dismiss the fall, I could deny the fall, I could succumb to the fall, or I could deal with it! The descent towards the river was eye-opening. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a Park Ranger observing my dilemma. As I descended, I shouted out to him, “I am sorry!” The river began to get closer and closer, and I was scrambling to figure out a path to avoid being wet. “Please Lord, help me!” Just before I was about to be completely engulfed by the raging river, I grabbed hold of a little tree, growing out of the riverbank, and I finally stopped my slide. The first face that I saw was the Ranger! He had a smile on his face, and he reached out his hand to assist me into a more secure location. Boy oh boy, did I feel guilty! “I didn’t think that you were around,” I said to the Ranger. He chuckled and said that “he was always around!” Somehow, the Ranger could tell that we were going to be up to “no good,” so he trailed us to our destination. As I reflect on this experience, I realize that my God is always around, and I have no secrets from Him. My actions, my thoughts, my motivations, my emotions, are never a secret to Him. My act of climbing the cliff was wrong! I could not deny it, I could not distort it, I could not dismiss it! The Ranger asked my name and where I lived. Politely, I answered every question. He looked at me and spoke these words, “Are you going to ever do this again?” My rapid response was, “No Sir!” I apologized for my actions, and he was very kind in his response. Who would have thought that, in just a few years, I would be working for him, at the Cliffs of the Neuse State Park. Wow! What a Jesus moment! I knew better, yet I did it anyway! When I got caught, I felt so much guilt! Again, I knew better, and did it, anyway! Isn’t that the definition of guilt? Guilt is a healthy regret for telling God one thing and doing another! There are no secrets from God! Don’t even try to hide anything from Him! We are weak and vulnerable, and we must depend on Him for our survival. The simple message for today is: Realize that God is everywhere, and our feeble human attempts to hide our actions is futile. We must confess our shortcomings and ask for His Grace and Forgiveness and His Guidance to avoid the errors of our human thoughts and actions. By the way, I had a healthy regret for the decision to climb the cliff, especially when I fell! Please aspire to follow God and to be obedient to His calling! Stay Strong, Stay Focused…THE BEST IS YET TO BE!
Sidenote: My “buddies” saw the Ranger and they ran away, leaving me to deal with the issues. They left the Park and left me, (Thank God), “High and Dry!”