CAUGHT UP IN THE CHASE

CAUGHT UP IN THE CHASE

If We Could See Beyond Today

If we could see beyond today as God can see,
If all the clouds should roll away, the shadows flee,
O'er present griefs we would not fret,
Each sorrow we would soon forget,
For many joys are waiting yet
For you and me.

If we could know beyond today as God doth know
Why dearest treasures pass away and tears must flow
And why the darkness leads to light
Why dreary paths will soon grow bright
Some day life's wrongs will be made right
Faith tells us so.

If we could see, if we could know, we often say
But God in love a veil doth throw across our way.
We cannot see what lies before
And so we cling to him the more
He leads us 'til this life is o'er
Trust and obey, yes trust and obey.

- Bev Shea

If we could only see ahead of time, know what lies down the road. We forget that those in history did not know what lay ahead for them, we look backward at everything. Today's Christian men have become the living dead. Every sin, we are first taught the feasibility – reasonableness - fairness of it whether having a mild cocktail to sooth anxiety or the fairness of same sex marriage. Then comes the legality of sin promoted by media and legislation with rapid acceptability of all sinful activity, you are soon considered spastic – unreasonable – intolerant, if you do not accept it.

God seldom warns us when He is testing us, 90% Christian faith is just raw courage. It does not take Him long to determine our genuineness. God took every prophet – patriot for a visit to the potter's house. I stood in amazement at a small pottery in Africa. You note the PERSONALITY of the potter, he is Boss. You note the PURPOSE of the potter, he knows what he is going to do, totally in charge, never takes his eyes off the wheel. You note the PRINCIPLES of the potter, quality, design (Isaiah 64:8). The purpose of the Master – God - Potter is to mold you in the likeness of Christ. This molding is not to just make you look good on Sunday. The Holy Spirit of God claims you every second of your life.

The problem with most Christians, God has not humiliated them in the wilderness as He did the children of Israel. After 2 million crossed the Jordan He did not even honor them to tell them WHY they were to march around the fortress city of Jericho once a day for six days and then (on the seventh, when they were not supposed to do anything) they were to march around the city seven times. The only thing they knew, to obey and keep their mouth shut. Looking back, can you even imagine that many Jews staying quiet, not complaining? Can you even imagine those pagans standing on the walls of Jericho watching what was going on? Although it had been over 40 years, the people there still talked about the parting of the Red Sea.

We always look backward, if only this writer could have known what would happen in his life ahead of time. I'm reminded of the comedian, Bill Cosby, “Noah, this is God. It has never rained but I want you to build an ark the size of the Queen Mary.”

The PROCESS of the potter, he controls everything. How often we forget, that in spite of the craziness of this world, God is still in charge – control. We get caught up in the chase of our daily activities, things that are important to us...golf courses, country club parties, staying ahead of our business competition.

There are only two types of Christians, the “follow me” Christian and, the “follow Christ” Christian. The gospel, God's book is complete. God wants his chosen to follow Christ.