Happy Veteran's Day! There's some good-looking photos of some vets in our paper's special edition from yesterday. I hope everyone has a chance to honor your local veterans today. A term of service often begins in unexpected ways. Some joined to avoid the draft; serving to avoid serving if you will. It sounds a bit odd, but back in the day, if you waited to be drafted you might have no choice in what branch or occupation you served. If on the other hand you joined as a volunteer, you would get at least a limited choice in the matter. I know a man who served in Europe instead of Vietnam by taking this option. Some volunteered purely for patriotism, others to honor their family history of service, and others because they were lost in the world and had nowhere else to go. I volunteered to get out of college, before I wasted more time and money in a losing cause. Whatever the reason for starting, we all served.
Service is something all of us are called to in Christ. In some cases, a man or woman may need a bit of time serving something here on earth to prepare for serving God. I believe that I was that way. Paul told us that all things work together for the good of those who believe in Jesus. The things that Paul spoke of began well before we came to believe. We may think back in time and wonder just how God could make something good out of some of the events in our past. One day I believe that He will show us. All those things went into us to make us ready to serve God. Relatives, parents, environment, DNA, toys, clothes, things we wanted but didn't get, work, school, holidays, pain, suffering, happy times, sad times, mean kids, nice kids, and anything else that makes up our lives, all went into getting us ready for God's service. Yes, you or I may have prayed that an elephant would drop out of the sky onto that mean kid from down the street, and that probably didn't happen, but somehow that helped get us ready to serve.
'All things' includes a lot things that I cannot see the purpose for in my life. I'm sure you have some examples too. However, we cannot see from God's vantage point or with His great wisdom; we cannot yet see the good that came out of, or is yet to come from, events that may have left us staggering in pain and grief. Trust means that we let God worry about making something good come out of the bad in our lives. Service in Christ might mean setting aside a few bad memories and soldiering on until we see the goodness of God in all of His glory.
Have a great Veteran's Day!
Bucky
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