Pleasant Places

Brenda and I have known our share of troubled times and desert experiences. We have endured such for one third of our marriage. We have known trials, death of visions, closed doors, times of confusion, seasons of depression, immovable mountains and more financial crisis than we care to remember.

There were times when nothing we tried in ministry seemed to work. Our prayers seemed to fall on deaf ears. More than once we have watched a church slowly die under our leadership, and nothing we did prevented it.

We also have known seasons when God shut doors for future ministry. During one such stretch I got turned down by well over 100 churches. I can still feel the sting of those rejections.  Then there were a few we met with and yet had no peace God wanted us to serve in those situations. It was a long frustrating season. Not for a few months. One such season lasted about seven years.

Today, I stumbled across a verse that ministered to me and explains this new season of our lives.

Psalm 16:6 (ESV)
6  The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

God has allowed the lines of His will to fall for us in pleasant places. The word pleasant means lovely, delightful, desirable and beautiful. When God opened the door for us to go back and minister at Spring Creek Baptist Church, I almost had to pinch myself to make sure it was real. There is no church I love any more, desire to serve more faithfully at this time and find any more delightful and beautiful than the people who make up that flock.

Just yesterday, I walked through the sanctuary to another part of the building. I kept repeating, "Thank You Lord for choosing me for this church." I spent time in there on my knees in worship and intercession.

The Spring Creek people are loving. They are hard working. They are a friendly flock welcoming new comers. They love God's word which makes me love them all the more. Truly God allowed the boundaries of His will to fall in pleasant places for the Edwards family. The fact that we walked thorough some wilderness years makes this season all the more delightful to us. We don't take it for granted.

After years of trials and sorrows, I was down and out. It felt like God would never bless the work of our hands again. We tried. We tried at Faith Community and we tried at Heritage. We could never seem to turn the corner. I began to believe that I would never again enjoy the blessed ministries we enjoyed at FBC Paradise and FBC Seminole.

Sometimes you have to wade through the mud to get to the other side. We waded through a lot of mud and shed a few years before God ushered us to Spring Creek to plant us. I can now say along with the Psalmist, "I have a beautiful inheritance." To put that another way, we have a beautifully good gift from God in the Spring Creek Baptist Church.

I sit in my bookshelved lined office and rejoice. I used to sneak into that office as the youth minister to read the pastor's books when he was not there. He had over 10,000. Now I get to enjoy that office on a nearly daily basis. I get to preach in a beautiful sanctuary increasingly filling with new people. I get to work along side some very wise and servant minded deacons. I get to worship through an experience of songs both old and new. Wonderful songs that lead me to fresh encounters with God. I get to hug children and work with teenagers. I am truly having the time of my life in this church.

I can't take away from previous churches. We loved and love people from all those previous places we served. We had many powerful encounters with God with those people. Spring Creek is special. We saw God do amazing things when we served there before. I always longed to go back. We are seeing Him to the same again.

The lines for the Edwards have fallen in pleasant places and His inheritance to us is beautiful. We love you Spring Creek.