Remember The Kingfisher

Scripture

There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.

~Philippians 1:6, MSG

Quote

The sanctification of a believer is a messy and lengthily process marked by repeated failure.

Eugene L. Peterson

I don’t generally quote or read anyone who is woke and I certainly do not agree with Petersons views of late, but he wrote some very good stuff long before “being woke” was a thing. Being “woke” means you are aware of systemic racism in America. Ironically, being woke these days means you are not pro-life. Be that as it is let me share the story. Peterson was a pastor for most of his life and he had been at this particular church for 26 years. One night he got a phone call from a woman he had known practically all her life. I think she was 12 years old when he became her pastor. He had baptized her, confirmed her, discipled her, performed her marriage ceremony and then was her counselor through a painful divorce and now she calls him at bedtime and shares with him her latest debacle. When he hung up the phone, his wife said, “who was that?” He said, “It was Rachel; she hasn’t made much progress in the past 26 years.” His wife said, “Remember the Kingfisher.”

It was just the encouragement that Peterson needed. Years prior to this experience, he and his wife were on a vacation at a lake in Montana. During the week, they noticed a Kingfisher {bird} perched on a limb near the lake. The bird was staring constantly at the lake and then suddenly, it would leave its perch and dive into the water. One day, Peterson and his wife counted the times the Kingfisher failed to catch a fish. He dived 26 times and came up with nothing but a wet beak but on the 27th time, he came up with a small fish.

The Kingfisher is an ugly little bird that fails a lot; kind of like the children of Israel who got it wrong more than they got it right. Babe Ruth struck out 1,330 times, but that is not what you remember about the Babe: you remember the 714 home runs. Babe believed that to be consistent at hitting the long ball, you had to overcome your fear of striking out. Failure is a part of the game; it is a part of life and a vital part of sanctification. We are humbled by failure; we learn from failure, and we are much easier to get along with because of our failure. I believe a vital part of good mental health is to learn to connect the dots. Many times, our strengths and our passions come from our failures. Joseph failed to unify his brothers. It was obvious to Jacob that Joseph would be his heir apparent, but it did not work out. Joseph’s arrogance didn’t help. Thirteen years of slavery and prison made Joseph a different kind of leader. He was still competent and confident, but he had a touch of humility and was very understanding. He was eventually able to unify his brothers and get them to respect their father.

I had some old memories come up last week. There have been two occasions in my life where when I got up to speak, the Holy Spirit just hit the override button and took over. I became a spectator and listened with amazement. One of those two times was at the Teacher Inservice meeting at Falkville. I was so nervous I couldn’t spit. My mouth was dry, and my knees were literally shaking. I don’t know what happened, as soon as began speaking a calm came over me {usually it gets worse} and the words simply flowed. No one was more amazed than I was. Some of the teachers were so impressed that they came to DBC the very next Sunday, but it didn’t happen again. They were disappointed but no more than me. So, at best, I have hit a couple of home runs in my preaching ministry, but we don’t want to count the strike outs. God is good. He gives me just enough encouragement to keep me going. I used to get down when I struck out but not so much anymore: I just thank God for another opportunity to step up to the plate and try to connect one more time.

Extra

First day of VBS at DBC and I keep doing less and less and enjoying it more and more. Everything is changing. Schools make VBS difficult because they never shut down for summer and parents put school and sports first. It is what it is and there is nothing I can do about it. There are probably less than a half dozen day schools in Morgan County so go DBC, don’t let the tradition die.

Pray for Gregg and Traci today as they travel to Little Rock. Pray especially for Traci today because she has to do the driving and I-40 between Memphis and Little Rock is brutal. Joyce Chaney is back home but the fluid is still a problem. Her wish is to stay at home. Pray for Nancy and family. If you want to see Joyce, you need to go right away. Belinda Childers is home recovering from surgery. She is the head cheer leader at GP. I have never seen her down. She is always full of life and enthusiasm. Get well soon Belinda!

Had good offering for Building Fund yesterday and our current balance is $33,780.00. My goal is to hit the 40,000.00 mark by July.

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