Don’t go to the grave with life unused.
Bobby Bowden
It was a beautiful summer day. The sun was peaking over the hills, and the birds had already begun their morning serenade. I had three kids strapped in, with a box of tissues between us. How could a head cold find me on such a beautiful summer day? In my rearview mirror, I could see Tyson with a drippy nose and Charlotte blowing hers. My questions were answered.
FOR A PERSONAL TOUCH click here
AMAZON click here
We pulled in to drop Eva off at Church camp. The road wound itself through the woods and back to a quiet nesting space full of bonfires, creeks to wade, and hardwoods to breathe in. Wiping my nose, I hugged Eva. Tyson and Charlotte said goodbye also. We left looking for the rest of our home, where we could all get better.
Tyson and Charlotte were buckled in the backseat, and I was enjoying the quiet ride home. The country roads were winding, with many beautiful homeplaces to catch my passing glances.
Out of nowhere, a car driving out of control at top speed came around the bend. I froze and called out, “Jesus!” The vehicle lost control, fishtailed into my lane, and recovered in its own lane, only inches from my vehicle. Stunned, I pulled off the road and began to cry. I looked in the backseat, and both Charlotte and Tyson looked at me obliviously. Not a care in the world. They had no idea what had just happened. I wiped my eyes and continued on my way home, thankful for the angels the Lord dispersed around my family.
Life was made to be lived, not feared.
Pam Stockdale
I had difficulty that day getting the image out of my head. My mind kept replaying the close encounter of the morning. Images can be a powerful thing. The enemy has but one access into our lives: our mind. If he can get us focused on fear, doubt, and unbelief, he can steal our peace, joy, and contentment in the life we have.
The devil is subtle and likes to sell his garbage in any form that we will accept it. One way is through entertainment. It’s a sneaky way to keep my mind bound to wrong thinking. Books, music, TV entertainment, or even unwanted advertisements will quickly capture my attention and focus it on the negative if not carefully guarded.
Talking with my mother, she told me, “There was a time in my life when I did not see the importance of what I watched or read, but the conviction of the Holy Spirit came in like a flood and ever so gently taught me. What we watch and what we read has every chance of getting into our spirit and will absolutely direct our natural/carnal man. I’m convinced we can be born again and be just as carnal as the sinner sitting next to us on the pew at church.”
As you have heard me state before, one of my favorite quotes is from the movie “My Six Loves”, where the Reverend tells the playwright, Mr. Kingsley, after reading his play that was full of distasteful entertainment, “Trash is Trash any day of the week.“
Paul wrote about this in 1 Corinthians 2:14, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” Most Christians stay carnal their entire lives. God desires to teach us how to live productively in the kingdom of God, not paralyzed in fear. “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace,” Romans 8:6.
Growing up, I recall many times when my parents would tell us to change the channel. I couldn’t understand it at the time. But now, as a parent, I see the importance of changing the channel, especially in my own mind. Dwelling on what could have happened steals my present activity and joy for the moment. We must trust our Heavenly Father and stop tending to graves.
My home should be a place of peace, where nourished seeds can take deep roots and sprout in absolute tranquility.
We crawled under the homemade tent in the living room. I turned on the flashlight and said, “He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge, my fortress, my God, and in Him will I trust,” Psalms 91:1-2.
I continued telling the kids, “This tent is like God’s protective covering. No matter what is going on outside the tent, I am protected inside. I can’t stop all the bad that goes on out there, or stop it from sneaking under the tent. But I can take refuge in God; covered within the safety of His loving arms. He keeps me from all harm, and He keeps my mind and my thoughts as I stay focused on Him.”
If we feed on fear, anxiety, and twisted situations through entertainment, we begin to see it around every corner; tending to graves that are not even there. It invites itself right inside our tent if we allow it.
In the movie Pollyanna, Mrs. Snow is a hypochondriac. She considers herself sickly and dying. Every time Pollyanna comes to visit Mrs. Snow, she continuously spoon feeds herself gloom and doom, along with “pills and bills,” until she is picking the lining out for her coffin. Finally, Pollyanna tells her, “You ought to forget about dying and be glad you’re living.”
God gives life and peace, but fear will keep you in constant torment and unrest in your mind.
We stood helplessly as we watched a young girl climb out of the passenger-side window of the truck. Her truck flipped multiple times, crashed through our split-rail fencing, and slid about fifty feet to a stop in our road ditch and front yard. Once she climbed out, she stood there trembling. Her truck was totaled entirely, yet she didn’t have a mark on her.
My neighbor sat with her, and I came up behind, waiting for the police and emergency workers. As the emergency responders checked on the young girl, the police officer asked, “Do you know this man?” She smiled and gave the paramedic a big hug. The police officer smiled and said, “Well, it seems that you do. Let’s also give your folks a call. They will want to know where you are.” The paramedic looked up and said, “I’m the one she calls dad. You have already told me.”
While the wreck was being cleaned up, the young girl was left with her grandfather, who was nearby. Eva looked at the damage to the fence. “Mom, what about the fence?” “Eva, the fence is nothing. That young girl’s life is everything, and she walked away. That’s something,” I told her.“Mom, do you think God’s angels kept her safe when she flipped into our yard?” I looked at Charlotte and Tyson swinging on the front yard tree swing without a care in the world, remembering a day not long ago. I took notice of the accident scene and what could have been a fatal wreck. I looked back down at Eva, “And He will give His angels charge over you; to keep you in all of your ways,” Psalms 91:11. “Yes,” I told her. “I believe that is exactly what God did.”
I will not spend my days tending graves, but rather tending to the assignments God has commissioned me; watching miracles unfold in my own front yard.
No grave trouble will overtake the righteous…
Proverbs 12:21
