Look out (new) life, here we come
- Bob Hanna: Someday
- March 12, 2020
- 1108
Last time we wrote about the wonderful people of our area who helped us raise over $20,000 for the Hostedler family in memory of the father who died in a farming accident. Last week we held a memorial service for our good friend and co-worker Tim Flesher II, who died of cancer at the age of 49.
Tragic? Yes! Stories like this are echoed daily all across this planet. So why do these things happen? Why would a loving God allow good people to die before we think they should? Notice the key words in that question: before we think.
In Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, it tells us, “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to uproot. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build.” And so on.
No guarantees. No warranties. God’s plan, not ours. No promises in this life, save one. God will never leave you or forsake you, to those who call upon his name. All through the scriptures, God promises to be there: through the fire, through the rain, through the good times and the bad, through cancer, through illness, through the violence, through the accidents, in the hospitals, in the nursing homes, in the dark, in the light.
This column is based on the stories of the adventures we travel, to encourage you to look beyond what lies before you, to reach out and chase your dreams while you can and allow God to lead your life.
I have been struggling with letting go of the past myself as we sell the family farm. Also March 31 will be my last day at Millersburg Tire after 43 years, moving not only to another place, but also another state. My strength is renewed in the Lord each time we talk. He leads me in his pathway, not mine.
My loving wife bought me a sign and hung it right in front of my recliner (well, kinda above my big bull elk): “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).
So here we go. Life here we come. Reality check: setting up a budget to live by.
A what? Wait a minute: You mean we got a spending limit?
Yes, Bob, a spending limit: setting up your Social Security payments, setting up your investments as income, insurances, medical/health, life, house, car, living expenses, gasoline, food (yes, we still like to eat), clothes, electricity and more. And somewhere in there we have to buy a house to live in. Oh yeah.
What about God? Give to God first and the rest will be taken care of. So our farm is to be auctioned on April 18. No pressure (really?). God’s got this. Do we have a new place picked out? No. God’s got this. How are we gonna move all our animals and stuff? God’s got this. New house, new state, new life, and oh, by the way, we are scheduled for another African Safari in September. God’s got this.
Recently I was watching a television show where the sheriff was confronting the bad guy about his suspicions that he was up to no good. The sheriff asked him if he knew anything about the crime. The bad guy snidely answered, “Why sheriff, I believe you overestimate me.” To which the sheriff replied, “I think you underestimate me.”
In our small world, we tend to only see what we can see, to hear what can be heard, to know what we know. God says, “My child, I think you underestimate me.” God has placed his Spirit within us to reach the unreachable, to love the unlovable, to accomplish the impossible.
His way, not mine. God bless!