Proverbs

Hope Deferred

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

Recently, I took my Jeep into the shop for some minor repairs. At the time, I didn’t really think it would take long, so I didn’t get everything out when I left it. That was 9 days ago. As it turns out, my Jeep won’t be ready until Monday. That makes 11 days without my car.

It’s been frustrating. I’m not overly happy with the place I took my car. I felt they could have streamlined the process and made it faster. I’m catching a glimpse of what it’s like to live under circumstances that are outside your control.

I can’t really force the people to work on my car any faster. I definitely can’t go down there and fix it myself. I can only do what the Bible says in difficult circumstances — trust and obey.

I like to think that I’m a patient person, but in times like these, I find that I’m not. I find myself getting anxious and irritated by the delay. I also look forward to getting my car back and to how much I will appreciate my Jeep after not having it for almost two weeks.

Then I remember that verse in the Proverbs that says that hope deferred makes the heart sick. I can understand that a little better now. I know people are dealing with much worse. Someone out there is facing a return of cancer. Someone is looking at a job prospect they thought was a sure thing that didn’t work out. Someone is back to square one in the dating game after finding out that special someone didn’t quite feel the same. Someone is still waiting on a prodigal to return home.

There are so many cases of people whose hearts are sick because their hope got delayed or deferred. So many barely had the strength to wait for the answer only to find that that answer is not yet. So many have been tested beyond their ability to endure or cope.

But that’s when they find that in the middle of their weakness and failing God’s strength is perfect. They find that saying that God never gives us more that we can handle isn’t quite accurate. God never gives us more than He can handle when we finally come to the point of surrender. That’s when God really shows up.

Hope deferred is not hope denied. Sometimes, it is because God has something more in store for those of us who wait that we’re not quite ready to receive. But I do believe that when it comes, the wait will have been more than worth it.

Hank Sr and the Night Air

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

hankwilliams__span

I spent another night in downtown Franklin with two good friends. It was another picture perfect evening, weather wise and in every other respect. I could almost literally feel the smile of God over me as I walked with my friends and revisited my favorite spots.

On the way home, I selected Hank Williams because it felt right. I had the windows rolled down, the night air blowing in, and that plaintive voice from the past crooning me to a happy place on my way home.

Hank died over 60 years ago under mysterious circumstances that may never be fully known or understood. From what I understand, he led a very sad life. I read an apt description that he was going 90 miles an hour down a dead end street. But he could write some of the most poignant, heartfelt lyrics.

I’d rather listen to his music any day than most of what passes for country music these days. It feels mass-produced and manufactured, even though the production sounds a lot better and recording studios have come a very long way.

Sometimes, it’s good to go back. To revisit the old values and the old sayings. To remember the stories handed down through generations and the ancient wisdom time-tested and proven true.

Like this one. It is more blessed to give than to receive. If you want to save your life, you have to lose it. If you want to be treated a certain way, you have to treat others that way.

Or this. Love God with everything you’ve got and love your neighbor as much as you love yourself. That’s the Bible in a nutshell, all the laws and commandments at their purest, and everything you need to know.

Oh, I almost forgot. You can’t love God until you’ve found out how much He loves you and then received that love as your own. You can’t love your neighbors if you haven’t discovered who you are and where you belong and found that you have priceless worth as one not only created by your Abba Father, but redeemed by Him.

That’s an old truth that will never ever get old for me.

 

 

A Face to Call Home: Still Another Letter to my Future Wife

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

I chose this picture because I want my wife to look this radiant. The actual girl pictured is probably-- no definitely-- too young for me.

I chose this picture because I want my wife to look this radiant. The actual girl pictured is probably– no definitely– too young for me.

Little by little, inch by inch
We built a yard with a garden in the middle of it
It ain’t much but it’s a start
You got me swaying right along to the song in your heart
And a face to call home
A face to call home
You got a face to call home . . . .

So good you didn’t see
The nervous wreck I used to be
You’d never know a man could feel so small
And you never look at me
Like I’m a liability
I bet you think I’ve never been at all

Little by little, inch by inch
We built a yard with a garden in the middle of it
And it ain’t much, but it’s a start
You got me swaying right along to the song in your heart

And a face to call home
A face to call home
You got a face to call home

A face to call home
A face to call home
You got a face to call home

Maybe I could stay a while,
Maybe I could stay a while,
Maybe I could stay a while,
I’m talkin’ like all of the time” (John Mayer).

Here I am again, writing you another letter instead of holding you in my arms. A verse in Proverbs says that a hope deferred makes a heart sick, but a hope deferred is still better than no hope at all. And my hopes are alive, even if the monitors would barely pick up a heartbeat. I still have hope.

I’m seeing more and more of what you’re like and I’m loving it. You have a beauty that’s all your own and you’re probably not even aware of it. It’ll be my job to show you and tell you every single day how beautiful you are and to bring that radiance out of you. You have a smile that makes me weak in the knees and a laugh that warms my heart. I don’t deserve that way you look at me and only me.

If I were to say that I’m up to the task of being a husband and a father, I’d be proving once and for all that I’m not ready. I can say for certain that I’m not up to it– not nearly– but I’ll be calling on all the power of Christ in me if I have any hopes of making us work.

So yet again. I’m praying that you hold on to hope. I’m praying you don’t listen to anyone who tells you how to become their idea of beautiful. Don’t let any man (even me. Especially me) treat you like anything less than a Princess, Child of the King, Beloved, the one Christ thought was to die for. Don’t settle. Don’t compromise. Don’t quit.

I love what I heard while you search for the perfect man, you could be missing the one who’s imperfect but would do anything to make you perfectly happy. I’m praying when the time comes that will be me.

Until then, I love you already and I can’t wait to meet you.

Your future husband (and still another Ragamuffin who’s living his miracle).

Greg