Because of a problem I have with my hearing, a problem I have always had, music gives me a terrible headache. Some instruments are worse than others and some, like a regular guitar, are not so bad. Because of that I have become a lyric person. If I concentrate on the lyrics of a song, I can almost block out the music. Often times this makes me really interested in why the song was written and what the author was thinking.

          This past Sunday (September 20, 2020) The Dotson Family singing group came to our church and presented a concert. (the video is at http://urbanayokeparish.com/worship-videos  please excuse the blurriness) During the concert, the Dotson’s sang several original songs that John, husband and father, had written, but they also sang a few that others had penned. One such, and one of my favorites because of the words, was ‘Because He Lives,’ by Bill and Gloria Gaither. I have long wanted to write the story of this timeless song and the Dotson’s singing it has sparked my thoughts, so this is that song.

          In 1969 a turbulent decade was drawing to a close. Racial unrest and riots were causing cities to burn. The Vietnam War was sparking violent uprisings on college campuses. Some really smart person (or stupid person, depending on your perspective) had created the Doomsday Clock to keep track of how close we were to nuclear destruction. President Kennedy had been assassinated, then Martin Luther King was assassinated and then President Kennedy’s brother, Robert, was assassinated. The drug culture took hold and the whole decade made the future look very, very bleak. Much like now, actually.

          On New Year’s Eve, Gloria Gaither sat at home, pregnant with their third child. She was feeling that special agony that a mother feels when she considers the wisdom of bringing another child into a world gone mad. As she sat there with feelings of misgivings running through her soul, a sudden calmness came over her. She felt the peace of God that is beyond understanding. She knew it was in His hands and that it would all be OK.

          Later she related the incident to her husband, Bill, and in 1970 the hymn ‘Because He Lives’ was published.

          A breakdown of the words causes us to see that pregnant mother, sitting in deep thought and fear, gradually coming to peace with her God.

          ‘God sent His Son, they called Him Jesus,’ Gloria, God loves you so much that He sent His Son to save your soul. And they called Him Jesus, which means ‘Jehovah is Salvation!’ He can handle this, Gloria! Listen more! ‘He came to love, heal and forgive.’ For you, young mother. He loves you, will bring healing and He will forgive this momentary falter of your faith. After all, young mother, ‘He lived and died to buy your pardon,’ so He must surely love you if He gave His life for you. And, young mother, He didn’t stay dead but now sits on God’s right hand to tell the Father that we are redeemed. ‘An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.’

          And, young mother, you will soon feel that special pleasure again. ‘How sweet to hold a newborn baby.’ Remember how wonderful it is to hold that child, Gloria? You will hold another very soon! Oh, Gloria, all that special feeling awaits. ‘And feel the pride and joy he gives.’ Yes, young mother! On this cold, Indiana winter night it feels overwhelming, ‘But greater still the calm assurance, this child can face uncertain days, because He lives!’

          And Gloria, He has all this under control. Not just this, either, young mother, but He has all of it handled until that day you leave this world. One day, when these little ones that fill your life now have little ones of their own, even grown ones of their own, and your time is drawing to a close, our Lord has it all covered! And then one day, I'll cross the river, I'll fight life's final war with pain, And then, as death gives way to victory, I'll see the s way to victory, I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know He reigns!

          New Year’s Eve in Indiana is always cold. Often the wind will rattle the windows. We see a very pregnant lady sitting alone with her thoughts, maybe a cup of tea. There in a dim room, still with the trappings of Christmas around her, she ponders a future that is bleak. She is very soon to have a child and she has two others that also have to grow up in a lost world. Deep, abiding concern makes her heart heavy. And then a strange, complete calmness comes over her. The fear gives way. This deep truth fills her soul….

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow

Because He lives, all fear is gone

Because I know He holds the future

And life is worth the living, just because He lives

          Because He lives, we have this day and all the others to follow.

 

          God’s will.

          What does that mean? How do we know what God’s will is for our lives or the life of our church? Does God actually talk to you? How is God’s will communicated to an individual or a church?

          God’s will.

          God told Noah to build a boat and gather his family and all the animals and put them all on the boat, and the world was saved. God told Abram to gather all he had and his family and begin to travel and he did and the Jewish nation was born. God caused a bush to burn without being consumed and from that bush he told Moses what he needed to do and Moses began his forty year career of saving the Jews. These men, and many more, took God at His Word and stepped out and did incredible things. They went in God’s will. BUT, God TALKED to them. They carried on conversations. Yes, they did God’s will, but it was pretty definite. God used language and He talked to them. That would be so much easier! Why doesn’t God pick out a prophet and tell him direct?

          God’s will.

          The way God has it set up now, how can you even know?

          Could it be that God is talking to us, but we do not hear?

          ‘Prophesy’ means speak or write words under the divine influence of God. One who does so is a ‘Prophet.’ It does not mean to see the future. Sometimes the Lord gave a future insight to the prophet, but it wasn’t about that at all. Noah was a mighty prophet. They mocked him, they ignored him, they thought he was crazy. Abraham was a mighty man of God. But he made mistakes and had times of stumbling. Moses was, arguably, the greatest prophet of the Old Testament. Following him, the people were fed every day and they were cared for. As soon as he was out of sight up the mountain where the people could see the glory of God, the people turned from God to an idol. Elijah was another great prophet. He called fire from heaven and then made it rain after a great time of drought. They tried to kill him. Isaiah was a prophet on par with Moses. Historical documents show that he was sawn in half. Paul was the greatest prophet of the New Testament. He was stoned, beaten and then killed. These men, and others as well, were great and mighty men of God. They proclaimed the Word of God! People didn’t listen.

          To know God’s will, start listening.

          But, to whom do we listen? We listened to Billy Graham, now look at us. We listened to Charles Stanley, that didn’t make much difference. The great preachers come and go and we seem to stay on the same path to destruction. HOW CAN WE KNOW THE WILL OF GOD?????

          First, God provided the greatest prophet of all. The Bible is the very Word of God. We read, He speaks. There are some very good English translations and there are some very bad English translations. The goal is to find a good translation and then read it. Every day. Not just the few verses that appear in your devotional. The actual Word of God. OK, will I find God’s will for my life in the Bible? Probably not. But just as important, you will find out what is not God’s will. If you think God is leading you in a certain direction, but then you read in the Word that what you are thinking does not agree with the Bible, you need to reexamine your thinking. The Lord does not need to speak to us vocally. He left us His Words in a book.

          Second, the Lord gave us the greatest privilege of all. We can talk to the Lord any time, any place. Prayer is an amazing thing. We like to say ‘God answered my prayer’ if things work out. God answers the prayer of a believer, regardless of how it works out. Marsha was pregnant. We had, over the years, several miscarriages. But this one looked like she might carry to term. The people in our church in Miami were praying earnestly that it would all work out. We were praying earnestly that it would work out. The time drew closer, and then the time arrived! And it didn’t work out. Tears. Agony of soul. At church a few days after we lost little Olivia, one of the ladies came up to me and asked me why God hadn’t answered all the prayers. They had all exercised their faith and prayed hard. Why did God turn away? I was young in the ministry. I had some theological training, but I certainly did not have the experience that this lady had in her time in the church. This lady had come to Christ two decades before I was born. But it was so simple to me. God had answered all those prayers. His answer was no. He had something else planned.

          OK, so if I read the Bible and pray, then God will reveal His plan to me?

          No.

          WHAT? WHAT MORE CAN I DO?

          People tend to read and pray in the same manner. Most people who read and pray daily spend little more than fifteen minutes doing both. We are too busy, it is too time consuming, we get bogged down. Much, much better to listen to Christian music or watch a video. That feels good!

          Maybe an attitude change.

          2 Chronicles 7:13-15---When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people,  if My people who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.  Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.  Why don’t we have time to pray? Why does it seem hard to read? Because we really believe that the things we have to do are more important than the things God has for us to do. We need to be humble before the Lord. We need to seek His way and His will. And there is one other thing.

          Isaiah 40:27-31---27Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”? ²⁸ Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable. ²⁹ He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength. ³⁰ Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; ³¹ but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.   We tend to really like that passage because it tells us to wait on the Lord. But, the word ‘wait’ means to collect, or work. Like a waiter or a waitress. It is not telling us to sit back and do nothing, but rather to be busy with the Lord’s work. Then our strength will be renewed. We can Spiritually soar like eagles, we can Spiritually run or we can Spiritually walk with strength.

          God’s will? How can we know it?

          Read the Word. Study to show yourself approved. Pray. Even when you don’t feel it, pray. Humble yourself before the mighty King. No one deserved praise more than David, but before he could really be used, he had to humble himself before the Lord. And do not sit back and wait for the Lord to reveal His plan. Get up off your backside and start serving Him like a good waiter or waitress.

          And then, you will begin to know God’s will. Guaranteed!

 

          Early Spring, 2005.

“Now you can prove to me that you grew up on a farm.” This was said with extreme sarcasm.

          “Oh, good! Just what I wanted to do today! Who am I speaking too?”

          She told me her name and asked if I could hurry, and then hung up. She was part of our church in Ohio. Her husband had died suddenly the previous year and now she had the small farm. Very small farm. What real farmers referred to, with distain, as a ‘toy farm.’ In this case, that phrase was accurate. Her husband, a hospital administrator, did the farm as a hobby. It wasn’t meant to make money. They had some chickens, a few sheep, a couple of horses and two small fields. And two HUGE Irish wolfhounds that, for some reason, decided they loved me. But I hadn’t met the dogs as yet because this was my first trip there. As I drove over to the house my mind was on the lady who had called me. She had been having a very hard time since her husband had died. I was trying to work with her through counseling as she struggled with her emotions, but for some reason she would reach out for help and then completely resent the fact that you were helping. I was starting to get a handle on it and now the emergency at the ‘farm.’ For her to actually call me for help meant she had no other option. She was embarrassed she could not handle it herself and that embarrassment was making her angry and nasty.

          I pulled into the drive and the two massive wolfhounds ambled towards the car. I like to think I can make friends with any dog, but wolfhounds are not only very big, they are also quite ugly. I got out and one of the dogs, I later found out that he was the oldest, just stood his ground and glared at me. The other launched himself up on his hind legs and put his paws on my shoulders. I found myself looking up (this dog was a good foot or more taller than me) at just about the ugliest dog face I had ever seen.

          The woman stepped out of the barn and snapped, “You can play with the dogs later! My problem is in here!”

          She was embarrassed and angry, but she was irritating me. The dogs were half scaring me and she was being obnoxious. As I have gotten older in age and in the ministry, I have less patience with obnoxious people. Jesus referred to those who were trying to tear Him down as vipers. He certainly didn’t put up with it. But I was younger then and still of the notion that pastors were supposed to allow themselves to be bullied. I followed her into the barn.

          There was their farm tractor. A small International. The thought ran through my head, ‘toy tractor for a toy farm.’ Behind the tractor was a very small brush hog. Or maybe it was a bush piglet. I almost laughed

          “I can’t figure out how to get the brush hog hooked up so I can cut down the north field.” She had neighbors all around with real farms. She could have asked any one of them for help. But she had called me, her pastor. It suddenly dawned on me why. It galled her to have to ask for help, but she had no choice. So, she called the one person she could trust not to laugh at her for needing help. And there I was, about to laugh at her toy brush hog, which was just a bit bigger than a weed whacker. I caught myself and checked the laugh. I just looked the equipment over.

          “Well, do something, farm boy!”

          I looked at her and said, “I have never seen a brush hog like this. I have to think it through.” 

          “You didn’t have a brush hog back on the farm?”

          I really wanted to tell her that my father would have been ashamed of himself to have had that brush hog, but I let it go. She kept pacing and muttering. What I wanted to do was leave, but those dogs were outside. I just continued to examine the set up.

          As she was getting ready to say something else, I started connecting the pieces. It was pretty simple. It all went together easily. She stared and then said, “What did you just do?” I went through the procedure with her and she just looked confused. “Anyway, when was the last time this thing was greased?” She had no idea what I was talking about. I pulled a grease gun off a peg board and showed her where the grease nipples were and how to use the gun. Again, she started getting irritated.

          “I don’t have time for that! I have to get that north field cut before sundown!” The north field was six acres of weeds. There wasn’t a real need to hurry, especially when it came to taking care of equipment. But it was her toy farm and her toy toys. I was putting the gun back as she was climbing into the seat. She fired up the tractor and jammed it into gear. She popped the clutch and the little thing stalled. She did it again and it stalled again. And again.

          She sat on the tractor and started to cry. It hadn’t been anger or irritation or haste. It was grief. She was trying to do her husband’s jobs to make him proud. She had no clue. She just didn’t know how. She sat there and cried. The wolfhound that had glared at me outside walked into the barn and looked at her and then at me as though he was wondering if I needed punished for making Mom cry. I leaned up against a wall and waited for her to stop.

          When she was done crying, she climbed down and headed for the door, head down. “No, you stay right there,” I said. I climbed into the seat and had her climb up, too. She stood on the platform and held on as I started the tractor. I raised the brush hog and slowly released the clutch and we drove out of the barn. In the yard I showed her how to operate everything and pretty soon we traded places and soon after that she was a brush hogging fool. I climbed down and sat on a stump and watched as she headed for the north field. The dogs came over and the one that glared at me earlier sat down facing me and continued to glare at me. The other one made it clear he wanted to play. After a while, I did play with him. The lady had it figured out and there was a dog to play with.

          A lot of people won’t try something because they don’t know how to do it. Others will try to do something without knowing how and then get frustrated. Everyone who can do something learned how to do it at some point. We learned how to eat with a spoon and a fork. We learned how to walk. We learned how to dress ourselves. We learned how to drive. There is nothing wrong with asking for help. You can’t teach a Sunday School class because you have never been taught. You can’t serve on the Board because you have never been taught. Whatever it is that you say you cannot do, maybe it is just because you haven’t been taught. There are plenty of people who can show you how.

          Don’t shake your head and say you cannot do it. Put some effort into it and learn how. That lady was still cutting her field when I left. It gave her great joy.