Several decades ago, when my daughters were in grade school, we drove to Orange County to meet my mother for a day trip to Newport Beach. A “fun in the sun” time would be had by all. We parked along the street and spent a long glorious day in surf and sand.
In the late afternoon – hot, tired, and sandy – the four of us trudged back to our car for the ride home. But our car – our wonderful air-conditioned ride home, was missing! And then we saw it. How could we have parked at the curb and possibly missed the sign?! No Parking -Tow Away Zone! Ugh! This can’t be happening. It seems on certain days the street sweeper would come by and, just our luck, today was that day and ours was that car.
No parking! Who would have thought missing that tiny little sign way up on a pole would get us into such a mess! But really – if we stop to think about it – are we missing a big “No Parking” sign today? I think we are – I believe much of the American church has plunked down curbside and settled into the lukewarm setting of “wait and see.”
Let’s wait and see if the government ever allows churches to reopen. Let’s wait and see if the power’s that be ever ‘allow’ singing again in our sanctuaries. Let’s wait and see if “they” ever allow us to reopen our stores, businesses and schools. Let’s wait and see if we can walk our dog around the block or have chocolate ice cream… it’s just crazy!
It’s a good thing David didn’t take this “wait and see” attitude when battling the Philistines who wanted to completely conquer and dominate the Israelites. At a time when everyone else was ‘parked’ curbside, David stood up to battle darkness and won!
While Goliath was busy threatening David and the armies of Israel, David put it into high gear with this fabulous declaration: “You come to me with sword and spear, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies…today the Lord will conquer you… and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel,” and that day David became a history maker!
Evil doesn’t vanish simply because people choose to ignore it. As a mater of fact, it always gets worse, so there is no reasonable excuse we have for staying out of this battle. We all want peace and unity but check out this verse from Mathew 10:34-35: “Perhaps you think I’ve come to spread peace and calm over the earth — but My coming will bring conflict and division, not peace.”
The New Testament disciples, who were accused of turning the world upside down, brought that division! How? They divided truth from lies, integrity from deception, light from dark, and righteousness from sin and corruption; and because of that had extreme conflict. They were true history makers!
Ronald Reagan (another history maker) threw out this bold line in his “A Time for Choosing” speech in 1964: “You and I have a rendezvous with destiny” and indeed we did – and still do – and it’s no less consequential than David’s own rendezvous with Goliath!
We have the opportunity to be history makers by taking advantage of every circumstance to speak truth, by doing all we can to preserve the liberties Americans have fought for, and to speak out for our freedoms every chance we get. There may have been a time when we could just park and chill, but not anymore.
The music group Delirious, has a song out called “History Maker.” Check out these marvelous lyrics: “Well it’s true today, that when people stand, With the fire of God, and the truth in hand; We’ll see miracles, We’ll see angels sing, We’ll see broken hearts making history… I’m gonna be a history maker in this land. I’m gonna be a speaker of truth to all mankind.” Yes – we can do this!!
Bob and Susan Beckett pastor the Dwelling Place City Church at 27100 Girard Street in Hemet, CA. For more information you can visit them at DPCityChurch.com.
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