IN GOD'S TIME

"Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:16 (NIV©1984)

Today, the fourteenth, we are nearly halfway through the month after the end of time, terminating our length of days. The Mayan calendar came to an end last month, and we were all supposed to fold up in the dust of time and blow away. But, that was not written in God’s book.

People said the Mayans had identify the very date when time would cease to be — on the last day of their ancient calendar. When a tornado came through Whitley County on June 29, 2012 and took the roof off the little church my husband would start serving on Jule 1, people outside the church said it would never be rebuilt. Letting the bricks lie in the neighbor’s soybean field and nails that had been sucked out of the timbers and blown to the far corners, lie in the street, was not God’s plan either. The Mayans only measured time, as best they could. God is outside of time, and he measures it with the beat of his own heart.

The little church on the corner of Love and Service did not follow man’s logic either. The people who form that church follow the will of God as best they can — and wanted God to decide the use of the brick church on that corner. Three seasons of the year, on two Saturday mornings in each month, they pass out coffee and doughnuts and a generous portion of love, to all who happen by. They provide toys and tokens of God’s love at Christmas to children who have little. They provide prayer support to all who have been lifted up. The world would not dictate the fate of the church. Only God knows when we have reached the end of our length of days or the usefulness of a church building, for he has written each of our days in his book before they even happen.

Yesterday was the day of rededication for Washington Center UMC. It was a wonderful day of celebration of God’s love and an act of appreciation to all those who had stopped that day in June and ran into the church to help bring out all they could salvaged. "The Lord is in his Holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him." (Habakkuk 2.20) Let us pray:

"Creator and keeper of time, we bow before you, knowing that you are in charge of more than we could ever know. We pray that your will and your time may come into our lives that we may make our home with you, every day of our lives. We thank you so much for all the saints who have gone before us, the little Sunday school teacher with the sensible shoes who taught about the travels of her best friend, "Paul," and the generous round man who was always willing to underwrite a youth program if funding was short. They have kept your story alive as they bore witness to your love. Every little church that cradles your children within their loving arms and send them out into the world to spread the story of your grace to all they meet, was represented by the rededicated of our building to your service. Your huge church structures that draw your people through their doors with the music of guitars and drums, can never replace the love that pours forth from each little brick country church. As the joy of the rededication still warms our hearts, may we all, both near and far, rededicate our lives to your service with a spirit of generosity. May there always be enough time, enough love, enough encouragement and enough support for all those around us, regardless of the corner on which we serve you. We lift you up and glorify your name. In the name of Jesus, our Savior and your son, we pray. Amen"

Doris
"God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine."
Copyright 2013 Doris Gaines Rapp

A few pistures are posted.