The Overcomers

I saw tonight what I’ve been longing to see for a very long time. It came in the form of an 80-year-old man with a joyful disposition and a knack for telling stories from the 60′s. The funny thing was, this man, who came wearing finely pressed slacks and the funniest velcro strapped shoes, appeared to be just an average man of 80 years. However, my assumption was quickly dismissed as I came up to meet him. The first thing I realized about him was that everywhere he went, an air of respect and authority traveled with him, not because he commanded it, but because he truly carried it.

I was able to walk him into our church as he arrived and be his “assistant” for the night, because he was teaching on the Sabbath. Now this man is an assistant pastor at a relatively well known Presbyterian church, and I had heard him speak before, but never had I been in close proximity to him.

I figured, “What a wonderful old man; he must know his stuff well.” I soon found out that not only did he know his stuff, but he was going to bless me immensely. As I guided him to his seat in the front row, he was overjoyed at the sound of worship. I think he may have outdone about 150 college-aged attendees in his zeal before the Lord. This was just the beginning.

As our pastor introduced him, the first thing he did was to ask a young couple to come to the front with their child-out of the blue. He had whispered to me during worship that he would like to pray for the newborn, but I figured he would wait until the end of the service. As the couple was walking out to take their son to the nursery, he asked them with the gentlest tone if they would come forward so that he could pray for the child and his parents. The entire room fell silent as George layed hands on the couple and blessed the child.

This special treatment of the bewildered couple and their newborn son soon turned to tears for the mother and a smile on a grateful father. It was this act that began to shatter the image I had of this man.

It soon became apparent to me that I had never seen such a man before in my life. I have seen many who walk in the power of the Spirit, but never a man who reminded me so much of Jesus himself. The natural authority with which he spoke and moved, as well as his gravitation toward children, reminded me of the man who did the same in the Gospels. It was quite compelling.

As he began to speak about the Sabbath, I began to realize that this man was the real deal. A great deal of encouragement welled up inside as I began to think about the ramifications of who this man was in Christ.

Married for 58 years; would turn 80 in a month or so; walked in the power and anointing of God like I had never seen. I can only draw this conclusion: this man is a walking picture of one who will overcome to the very end.

The grand picture in scripture shows us that those who overcome the world with all its fatal attractions and cling to the Father will inherit eternal life. But what the man named George showed me was that this is entirely possible.

Living in a world where most older folk can be lumped into the categories of: burnt out, tired, worn down by life, and bitter, George exuded Jesus in everything he did. His countenance toward children and towards God reminds me of this Apostle who in his early days was called a “Son of thunder” because of his great zeal and fiery spirit. But as John the Apostle aged physically and became a pillar in the church, his zeal and fire stayed, but the Spirit of God matured it into love. It’s very interesting that at the beginning of his life, he was a “son of thunder”, yet at the end of his life, he was called “the apostle of love”.

I very much find my faith in a place of zeal, still trying to learn what the true love of God looks like. Yet I find hope in this, that if God has transformed a man like George from a fireball to a steady roaring flame of love, he will also do the same with you and I.

May we see what God has done in those who have stayed faithful to him, and know that he has promised the same to us if we continue to hold to the faith that was preached to us at first. May we all find those people who have fought the good fight and are still fighting, even if their skin is a little wrinkly.

Marriage

I fell asleep late last night. All day long I had been thinking about marriage, the beauty of it, the implications of it. The idea of spending the rest of my life with one woman-whom I will love so dearly that I would think nothing of giving my life for her. That intimacy which extends far beyond the physical, into the spiritual. To actually approach the Father with another at my side.

I had been wrestling with the thought all day.

As I finally slept, I began to dream, and believe me, this was a long dream.

I remember preparing to meet my bride at the altar that day. I was dressed in full tux, and anxiously awaiting the moment when the doors would fling open, and I would see her walking to meet me. There was a beautiful tension in the air. It was as if this marriage was the most natural thing ever, yet it had been delayed, so I should hurry up and get on with it.

The moment came soon enough. She came down the aisle, and to my surprise, I had no idea who she was. I began to think to myself, “Who is this woman?” And due to the irrational nature of dreams, I still married her (which I found hilariously disturbing later that morning).

As I looked at her in front of me, I tried my hardest to emotionally turn on something that would resemble love, yet the only thing that came was frustration. So, at the altar I covered my face with a meek smile, yet inside there was flurry of emotions as to what I should do in the next 5 seconds.

And then I just allowed it to happen. I married her. Neither knowing who she was, nor knowing her name. If that was bad, the reception after was even worse. The feelings of excitement never came, the bubbling anticipation of the years to come turned to dread and fear.

I danced, yet there was nothing to dance about. I went through the motions of cutting the cake, yet I felt no gladness in my heart. And that was the end of the dream.

After an excruciating night of dreaming, I woke up disgusted as to what had just gone on in my mind for the previous 8 hours. I thought, “What a freakish, sick, twisted dream. Who would marry someone they don’t even know?”

I put the dream aside for the day, but now I come back to it. I realized two things about this dream.

One, when we come to know Jesus as our Lord and Savior, he wants to know us deeply and intimately. The sickness I feel in my stomach as I write this line is nearly overwhelming; how could we as the people of God not long to know Him who desires to know us fully? Could it be that on the great and glorious day of the wedding banquet, we come to Him not knowing Him? We come to Jesus expecting heaven and a house and access to His riches, but when we come, He offers us His hand?

Now I’m not sure what would happen after that, but the very idea of coming to your own wedding but not knowing your bride/groom is sickening to me. The same idea of coming to Jesus not knowing him is even more stomach-churning.

How dreadful would it be to realize in that moment that your life on earth could have been spent knowing the Father in greater and greater measure? Jesus said, “Eternal life is this, knowing the Father, and his son Jesus Christ, whom he has sent.”

Sons and daughters of God, I implore you, seek Him to know him.

Secondly, this train of thought pertains to my current struggles, so I hope that you will allow me to throw the line out a bit more. I also realized that in my desire for a Godly wife, in the words of Song of Solomon, I must “not awaken love until it so desires.” The culture we live in demands that we seek a woman or a man quickly and without much consideration. It says that college is the time to meet your wife, the time to find her and hold her tight, lest she be taken from you. This deeply engrained (and false) idea, along with a handful of recently attended weddings, has brought this issue to the forefront of my mind.

If we cannot trust that God will provide that person (with all due pursuit on our part), I don’t know if we can trust God with anything.

I believe this period of waiting is good. If I’m to trust him with all my life, I must trust him to give to me the desires of my heart, a woman to love and cherish. I believe he will, but until then, I will wait, and I will continue to love him first.