I was spending some time in Nehemiah this morning and licking wounds over some sniper damage I received this weekend. It was good to see that Nehemiah faced snipers, too. I then did my blog reading. This morning, Perry Noble shared how God used a trip to Chic Fil A with his toddler daughter to speak to him.I don't know if you read the comments to your favorite blogs, but I like to go there. God seems to speak in the strangest places and many times through people we may never personally meet. (Snipers save your bullet. I am not talking about extra-Biblical revelation.)
This morning I reviewed the comments to Troy Grambling's post from Monday. Stephen Guschov, a guy I'll probably never meet, reminded me of a quote I read years ago. It was a blessing to be reminded of this great reality about snipers and critics:
"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again (but) ... who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat."THEODORE ROOSEVELT, 1910
Are you listening for God to speak to you today?
Hey Jim,
ReplyDeleteFriend of Pastor Clay's from seminary: Don't let the snipers get you down. In fact... Be glad they are there. They are building you up by trying to tear you down.
The momentary light afflictions we suffer in this world are producing an eternal weight of glory.
One of the Newsboys tracks goes like this: "When the stones are thrown, they either miss or they turn to glory."
Glory. Soak it up. Delight in it. Be encouraged brother!