Turning on a Dime

 God works methodically in our world and lives to accomplish His purposes. He is never in a hurry. He does not run late. He is always on time. It may not always seem that way. Especially if you are waiting for Him to move. 

There are seasons when it appears God is not working on our be halves. Sometimes these seasons stretch into days, weeks, months, and at times even years. Israel experiences this for over 400 years when they were enslaved in Egypt. They waited and waited. It was not until God called Moses and then the 10 plagues that they saw deliverance. Joseph experienced this in prison. In both cases when God decided to move, He did so in dramatic fashion. Their circumstances turned on a dime. 

God can do more in a few days than we can do in decades with all our best made plans, programming, and hard work. I write this in a bit of a daze. I have witnessed in recent days God turning everything in my life on a dime. It has been bewildering. I have sat at my desk stunned by God. Astonished at the rapid way He is working. Humbled and awed by the sovereign plan He has been working for decades that I could not see. The plan that I often doubted. 

When He decided to move in my life, He turned everything on a dime in dashing fashion. I never saw it coming. My head is still spinning. I am trying to process the move of God around me. For decades it felt like God was not using me. I experienced repeated failures, confusion, and even bouts of depression. I could not make sense of it all. Then in one fell swoop God turned everything on a dime. 

It all started with one conversation after a meeting. That one conversation led to other meetings and connections and a few months later here I am. Blown away. Being called to the biggest faith step I have taken in a very long time. More content than I have ever been. The puzzle pieces are coming together. I can see the traces of God's hand to shut certain doors, to open strategic doors, to keep me from making wrong decisions, and to place me where I am for this appointed season. 

God can turn everything on a dime. Maybe you are confused, broken, and weary. Maybe you feel like you will never step into your intended purpose. Maybe you feel like it is too late. Hope is setting like the evening sun on your dreams. Perhaps you just cannot bring yourself to believe anymore. It is too painful to hold onto dreams you thought were planted by God but never come true. 

Joseph had dreams. Instead of living those dreams his brothers sold him into slavery. Eventually he ended up in prison accused of a crime he did not commit. I have often wondered what went through Joseph's mind during his prison sentence. Did he doubt his dreams? Did he doubt God? Did confusion cloud his mind? We do not know. What we do know is that Joseph was faithful to God in prison. He was a model prisoner. Then God turned everything on a dime. 

Joseph interpreted two dreams from officials from Pharaoh's court who were imprisoned for a short time. One was executed as Joseph predicted. The other was restored. Joseph begged the cup bearer to mention his situation to Pharaoh. The cup bearer forgot for two full years. Then Pharaoh had a couple dreams nobody could interpret. It was then the cup bearer remembered Joseph. 

God orchestrated Joseph getting to interpret the dreams for Pharaoh. Everything turned on a dime. I do not exaggerate when I write that Joseph went from the prison to the palace second in charge over all of Egypt. God worked the whole time through the pain of imprisonment and slavery to put Joseph where He needed to be. Joseph's dreams came true overnight. After years of looking like God had abandoned Him God worked the whole time. Joseph's eyes were wide opened when he saw his dreams coming true. He even forgave his brothers. He saw it all as part of God's master plan. 

He does that for us too. We interpret His silence for His absence. He is not absent. He does not forsake His children. We may not understand His ways and methods. When the time is right, He turns everything on a dime and then the picture comes into focus. We are able to see clearly what had been obscure for so long. 

Brenda and I experienced some very painful seasons in ministry over our three-decade marriage. God planted deep dreams in me as a seminary student. I thought those dreams would never come to fruition over the years. It became much easier not to dream. Not to hope. Decades of confusion. Decades of pleading with God to use me. Decades of failures, setbacks, disillusionment, looking for greener grass in other pastures, and just trying to survive. 

God has positioned Spring Creek to go places we have not considered possible. God has added life, enthusiasm, help, and a new position personally I never entertained in the past. I contented myself in a coaching role in addition to my pastoral duties. God had more in mind. He turned everything on a dime when I was voted in as the Athletic Director at Pinnacle Christian School that starts meeting at Spring Creek this fall. He turned everything on a dime and my head is dizzy trying to take all He has done in the past few weeks. Everything in my life has led to this moment in time. To pastor Spring Creek and to lead us into a very bright future and now to pioneer sports at Pinnacle as the Athletic Director. I am humbled. I feel so unworthy of either position. I am in awe of an amazing God I love and trust. 

In addition to serving as pastor here, I also get to pour my life into students as a Bible teacher and coach. Every passion God welled up in me years ago is now being leveraged for His kingdom. I get to do the things I was born to do. I get to teach and preach the Bible not only as a pastor, teacher, and coach young athletes pointing them to Jesus, and shepherd wonderful people I love immensely. On top of all that I get to write. I am living my dream. Even dreams I did not know I had. I am living life in the sweet spot. God did it all when He turned everything on a dime.