OBSESSED WITH CERTAINTY OF WONDER

A man I never met turned my world around to the point I've never gotten over it.  God places people and/or their works in our paths along the way and such is the case for me.  E. Stanley Jones wrote a very small book which continues to provide quite large blessings.  I've never forgotten my being stricken with absolute possibility embedded within every negative situation.

The Divine Yes impacted me like no other book.  Everything is a Yes.  Jones based his work on the dynamic words of II Corinthians 1:20: For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.

Having served decades in a foreign territory spreading the Word of God in a fantastic ministry, Jones suffered a paralyzing stroke while visiting America.  One half of his body no longer functioned.  His family pleaded that he retire at his age and stay home. But he refused.  And while his body was now a source of daily struggle, slurred speech and all, he returned to his beloved adopted country.

E. Stanley Jones drug his half-dead body for the next fourteen months until his death to show that everything is a yes regardless of interruption or interference.  The promises of God are a yes.  He wanted his colleagues to see that even drastic discouragement would not cause anyone to call it quits.  He would not let such an obstruction of body stop him from ministering to a people dearly loved by God.

This is the spirit of Jesus.  Love the people.  Care for the broken.  Stand by the public rejects.  Cover for the enemy.  And, count on Father to bring one back from the grave. We are called to do more than go to church.  We are called to be an obsessed kind of populace which lives in certainty of wonder; even when the circumstances prove to be less than ideal.

So here's the magic of it all.  Our depression, our rejection, our insults, and our failures are not signals of pulling out; but rather, of lighting up.  Even in the very center of loss and distress we are learning how others feel who are suffering loss and distress. Nothing is a waste.  Nothing.  This strong attitude of faith reverses most lives.

The Apostle Paul urged that even tribulation leads us to endurance.  Endurance leads to proven character.  And proven character?  Leads us to hope.  Romans 5:5 reveals that such a hope is not fake due to the Holy Spirit of God given to us.  We can count on wonder...even in the very center of those things/those people who threaten to shut us down.

This....is the wonder of being a regular person living on a regular road wishing to turn the world upside down!