Wednesday, June 26, 2013

I'll Fly Away!

On a recent trip to the Adirondack Mountains, I encountered a small group of musicians playing banjos and guitars. They had great harmony; it seemed like they had played together forever.

As they strummed a plethora of songs they played one from my childhood: “I’ll Fly Away.” The words go something like this:
Some glad morning when this life is o'er, I'll fly away; 
To a home on God's celestial shore, I'll fly away (I'll fly away). 

Chorus 
I'll fly away, fly away, Oh Glory, I'll fly away; (in the morning) 
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by, I'll fly away (I'll fly away).

As I listened to the fellas play, I thought about them and the ends of their lives. Did they truly believe they were going to spend an eternity in heaven with God or were they just playing a rhythmic song? Later, I saw one of them drinking and heard him swearing. I wondered about their salvation again.

We surely do not know the spiritual conditions of people around us and whether they will go to glory rejoicing or to hell regretting. Our job is to tell them and be a witness to God’s life-transforming salvation. The encounters we have on a daily basis are opportunities God places in front of us to give out the gospel. Are we concerned enough to tell others and concerned about their spiritual conditions?


Only God knows the hearts of the musicians I saw, but if He put them on my mind I should be concerned, too. May that be a lesson to me. Next time, I’ll be concerned if they can fly or not!

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Need A Get-Away?

I’ve heard this phrase a thousand times: “If only I could just get away from it all!” Maybe you say this right after a bad confrontation with a family member or an unexpected bill comes and causes stress in your family. I’ve heard young mothers say this when they have two or three very young children and every day seems like a battle to just get them dressed, keep them dressed, and feed them! Calgon take me away!

You can remove yourself physically from a situation, but does distance always make your thoughts turn off, give your body strength, or heal your heart? I don’t think so. If that young mother got away for a week, she would spend most of her time thinking and talking about her children! So just where is it that you’re going to go to get away from it ALL?

In Psalm 139:7-10, David considers this same situation—fleeing.

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.

David understands quickly that God is everywhere and can see, hear, and know his situation. Whether David tries to run away or accepts the fact that God is his protector in hard times, it doesn’t matter. He just needs to know God is there.

The same is true for any situation we go through today. God is there! We can’t run far enough from Him that He won’t see us. We can’t hide from Him whether our sin is great or small. We just need to stop running and start realizing HE IS GOD! The Alpha and Omega, the Beginning as well as the End. Our problems are not bigger than God. Our sin is not bigger than God. He can handle it!

So when the tensions of life try to get the better of you, stop! Don’t dream of fleeing because it will not solve problems—trying to run away will create more. Begin to let the sovereign God of the universe fill you with a peace only He can give. Let it wash over you, cleanse you, bathe you in His light. He knows. He cares and  He loves you. Don’t flee from that.