Wednesday, July 29, 2009

God has a Plan

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace." Helen Howarth Lemmel

I have always spent much time wondering, pondering and thinking about why. I am someone who needs answers, I always have been. As a kid I would badger my parents always asking why. I naturally want to question everything, and have have the "veil of things seen and unseen torn away". I remember singing the words of "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus", in a chapel at a camp for people with disabilities so many years ago. How the fog of the world was lifted for the first time and I understood my purpose on earth. How the pain of not knowing why I hurt on the inside melted away as my heart was looking toward heaven instead of my eyes or my brain looking at he world. I am so thankful that others followed the plan God had for their lives, so I had that opportunity and now can offer it to others.

We have just finished the first 2 weeks of Camp Daniel. Almost 300 people participated over those two weeks. Lives where changed, people where saved, and life will never be the same for so many. The last week was hard, as we dealt with issues of abuse that so many campers live with in their homes on a daily basis, Our campers come and have, for many, the very greatest week of their lives and then we send many back into the very worst of situations where they are abused by evil people. Honestly, it is the one thing that trips me up, causes me to lose focus and begin to ask God WHY? I can be in the middle of the most loving, wonderful place on earth, and still get into a funk of sadness, pain, and questioning. At the end of the week it hit me hard, and after our last evening chapel I was brooding over it all and muttering to God about how I never agreed to this when we started out. But a camper saw that I was unhappy and hugged me and told me she was happy, because she got to meet Jesus tonight. As I walked away from that simple moment in tears I realized I had lost focus, that I had let the things of the world once again cloud my vision. I asked God for forgiveness and thanked him for using a person with a disability to once again minister to me and turn my eyes to Jesus.

I look forward to the last two weeks of camp, ready to face whatever God brings to us. My call is clear and simple; to keep my eyes on Jesus and help others to do the same. God has a plan for each of us and all of us, sometimes that plan walks us through a valley, sometimes it has us standing on a mountaintop, but what we see in either of those places should never change, it should always be Jesus we are focused upon.

LT



3 comments:

  1. You know what amazes me...is that it never seems to matter how long we've been Christians...losing focus is so easy to do. Why should I need to be reminded to turn my eyes towards Jesus...I shouldn't. Thanks Tony. I needed the reminder.

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  2. What amazes me is that God speaks so clearly to us in all kinds of circumstances, both good and bad. The problem is that I don't always position myself to hear Him. Thank God for the voices He uses to get His message across to us and to keep our eyes focused on where they should be. You are one of those voices, Tony. Thanks.

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  3. I remember singing that song as a child myself....while sitting in the way back of the wood-paneled Ford station wagon, traveling through the Smoky Mountains. Most of those simple tunes back in the day were just straight-up King James scripture! The melodies of my childhood return to me again and again, reminding me at the most appropriate times of God's promises,forgiveness and grace. It brings a smile to my face and real joy to my heart to hear that God does it for you, too.

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