Corner

His black lab had eaten his study bible that he had taught and studied from over the past 15 years. Braced for feedback, he knew that a posting of it on his facebook page would generate some piffy replies...and that it did. With his usual great humor dry presentation and honest report he cited the most clever ones....everything from the dog letting the word of God go in him and through him, to how the dog would soon make a holy deposit. This is how Brad Thompson, the pastor at Austin Ridge Bible Church began his intro to "Lessons learned in a Corner".The dog was pushed in a corner...he had done something that could not be reversed and he knew it, now he would have to live out the consequences. He had my attention when he started with a dog story.

You ever felt like you were pushed in a corner? His lesson was taken from Exodus 13:17-14:31. The story of the red sea. You remember it. But this was a twist that I seemed to identify with better than any illustration I have heard before. He was talking about the Egyptians...he said they lived Egyptian, they ate Egyptian, they worked Egyptian etc, because that is all they knew. When God through his servant Moses made way for Pharaoh to let the people go....they were followers because they knew no other way. This is the way we are as earth dwellers. We do earthly things, think earthly thoughts.act in earthly ways because this is what we know. We know by what we are exposed to. Brad has a handicapped son and he said that pushes him in a corner everyday, just as many of the situations that we live with do. And in that corner we have to know that God is with us. He has allowed us to be in the position we have found ourselves to be in and he is working with us as we stand in the corner to help us manage that corner, maybe not as quickly as we would like, in the way we would like, but nevertheless God is working.

He reminded me of a crucial point in God's workings. God is working millions of corners for millions of folks all at the same time. It is in tandem with his plan, his provision and his glory. And we have no idea how our personal corner is effecting one of his other corners. God always tend to maintain his domino effect. Most times we are not privy to how we manage our corner do effects someone else. But think upon your own life and the influences that have made a difference in your perspective. So many times as I reflect it is watching how someone else has dealt with being in a corner or a tough spot.

As earthlings, we do things earthly ways. But as we come to know Christ and realize the blessings that have been brought to our lives through his life and the relationship that he has made available to us and the example he has left for us to read about in his word, we become more acquainted with his heavenly ways and no longer are forced to follow the worlds ways becasue we now are confident of an alternative way of life. And just as the Egyptians took that step of faith in the sand banks of the Red Sea, that is what we are called to do. To trust God to be who he says he is, and do what he says he is going to do, and follow him even when our earthly minds can make little sense of it. Living a Christian life is a one step at a time process.

The following are notes from the sermon:
When you are in a corner:
1) Don't be afraid
2) Stand Firm
3) Watch what God is going to do
and I love this last one;
4) Quite talking...for we just can talk things to death

In the corner, God is preparing me for heaven and God only gives me the "next" step, not the whole marathon. We learn to trust not only by giving God a chance to work in our own lives, but by watching what God has done through others who have been on the corner.

Corner lessons:
1) None of us escapes the Red Seas of life
2) Tight places get us to think differently and are God's preparation for our eternal home
3) When we are at the end of our rope and pushed in a corner, the only place to look is up
4) If God is to get the glory we have to let him do our fighting. We tend to be in a hurry, God is not and he promises victory if we stand behind him in battle
5) Red Sea opens and closes at his demand not ours. Creation is always going to do what the creator tells it to do.

We are never put into a corner without a plan...God's plan.And sometimes we are stuck in one for a long time...for it is God who chooses when to open the door and close it. We have to trust that! Circumstances do not determine what God can do, and is doing! Your faithfulness in your corner is not just about you! It is what God is doing in a bunch of other corners at the same time.

Deuteronomy 1:30
The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes,

God sent a cloud by day and a fire by night for the Egyptians to follow. Okay, so that cloud is not so visibly apparent today, but it still is there in the presence of the Holy Spirit. In order for us to be able to follow God's lead,we have to learn to know him and search his ways through our prayers, watch for signs of his involvement, and listen to whispers that he lands within our minds. He remains in the business of leading, it is us who have to choose to follow him, in the corners and out.

Dear Lord, We are pushed into corners that call for miracles, that call for a stretching of our perspective, a trust that overrides fear and an abiding faithfulness in you that we are called to stand on. Help us to recognize your lead and choose to be your follower. Amen

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Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!