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Scripture for the day: Psalm 37:3-5 Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.
Thought for the day: Perhaps our vision gets more acute as we grow older. I’m not talking about our physical eyesight; that almost never gets better. Could it be, though that our spiritual eyesight improves as we move toward the end of our race? Could it be that we develop the ability to better see the hand of God at work? Let me tell you a story.
When I was in high school, more years ago than I care to admit, I hated anything to do with math. Algebra was an absolute nightmare and, as we moved on to calculus and trigonometry, things only got worse and my hatred for everything mathematical only increased. Not much has changed in the math realm except that I’m no longer forced to fight that battle. Chemistry, biology, and the rest of the sciences ranked right up there with math. English was something I could do quite well; just don’t ask me to explain the technical aspects of sentence structure. Foreign languages drove me crazy; I may as well have been reading an algebra textbook as read Parisian French. There was one subject, though, that I truly enjoyed – history. My goal, in fact, was to become a history teacher.
When I graduated from high school, I applied to Farmington State Teacher’s College (now the University of Maine at Farmington), intending to kill two birds with one stone. I could begin my journey toward becoming a history teacher and, at the same time, avoid spending a fun-filled tour of duty in Viet Nam. The University didn’t reply to my application for months. Finally, after some time exploring various options, I enlisted in the Navy. Three days later I got a letter from Farmington welcoming me to the next semester’s freshman class. Off I went to the Navy; no history degree, no teaching.
When my enlistment was up, I attended the University of Maine in Augusta and then moved on to the Orono campus where I earned a Bachelor’s degree, but not in history. For some reason I can’t understand, the thought of pursuing my love of history never entered my mind. Life continued and, in due time, the Lord called me to preach the gospel; something I still love to do when possible. Years were spent in ministry, some effective, others not so much. The results of those efforts I gladly leave in the hands of a merciful God who defines success in terms of faithfulness rather than material gain. Suffice it to say, with the exception of teaching church history to a group of adults who were preparing for full-time ministry, history has taken a back seat and has been long forgotten.
Now, I say all that to say this; we serve a great and compassionate God. A few weeks ago, the director of a near-by Christian school, Temple Academy, came to me and asked if I would consider becoming one of their history teachers in the coming school year. I was flabbergasted to say the least. After all these years, the dream I had in high school was set before me, almost out of the blue. Following some prayer and discussion with the wife, I said yes and, Lord willing and the Creeks don’t rise, that long-ago dream will finally become reality (I say, Lord willing, because, at my age, buying green bananas is an act of faith). It’s almost as if the Lord were saying, “You have been faithful in following the path I have provided for you. As a reward, the long-ago desire of your heart is granted.” To say I am humbled by all this is a tremendous understatement.
Trust the Lord, rest in the Lord, take joy in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. And remember, “The one who fails to learn from history is destined to repeat it.” – George Santyana. Now go take on your world. - Bill