The Great Awakening

It's amazing to learn just what it takes to move us, to break us out of our mold and cause us to look at something with a new perspective. This happened to me this past August. I began to follow a local news story which would ultimately change my life forever. I remember the headlines, "Boy missing off NC coast". I clicked on the online story. My first thought was that by now this boy had been found, after all, the boy probably just wandered away without telling anyone, it couldn't be too unusual for a 12-yr old. Honestly I didn't give it much thought, at first, but after a couple days of not finding him, I began to consider the fact that this story may not have a happy ending. On day three, my concerns became reality, and the story did in fact have a tragic end, the boy's body had been found. You see, it all started out as a typical family vacation. What started out in NC to be the beginning of a two-week end-of-summer family fun time, ended up being one of the most life-changing experiences anyone could ever imagine. I certainly could not imagine waking up one day with fun, excitement and anticipation, only to go to bed with worry, sadness and fear. Within three days those emotions would turn into the powerful question, Why? The big "What-if" question. Why did we have to go here in the first place? or What if we had just went somewhere else? Would our son still be alive? I try to put myself in this situation. How would I respond? Anger, doubt, bitterness? Why did God let this happen? So many questions would go through my mind. But, it wasn't me. All I could do was to pray for this family and believe that God would give them the strength to get through this.

So what affect did this tragedy have on me, very simple, "live is too short to not enjoy every minute". You see, I used to look at life as the battle ground. I believed life to be a little enjoyable, but didn't want to "enjoy" it too much. The Christian life, to me, was like a soldier on deployment for life. This earthly existence was a time for service, not for fun. Eternal life is the time of reward, enjoyment and taking it easy, I said. I would reason, "how could God want us [Christians] to enjoy life, knowing that people are dying everyday without the benefit of salvation through Jesus Christ". Aren't we supposed to be dead to ourselves? It was my job to "work" out my faith.

What I have came to understand is that God gave us this life to share, to laugh, to love and yes to enjoy! I have had to change my whole way of thinking! I have learned to never waste a moment of your life, waiting for something to change, someone to change or circumstances to change. The bible says in Psalm 37:7 "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently on Him". But I ask, should life just come to a complete stop? Certainly not! The apostle Paul spoke of this in Ephesians 5:15-16 "Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil". We have to spend our time wisely, but at the same time we have to make the most of our life on this earth. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 talks about there being a time for everything, a time for work and a time for fun. Why didn't I see this before? I must have been blind! I thank the Lord Jesus Christ for showing me the truth.

May you all understand the truth of God's Word.