Impressed

Impressed

“Wherefore glorify the Lord in the fires….”
                                     Isaiah 24:15

It wasn’t the words that were spoken in chapel this week and it wasn’t the eloquence and delivery of his message that stood out. It wasn’t the film clip of his years playing quarterback in the National Football League and it wasn’t his success as a professional athlete that drew my attention to our guest speaker and what he had come to share with the teens in our high school. What impressed me was the life response of a man who had experienced the personal tragedy, many years ago, of his 15 year old son committing suicide.

Facing hurt and overcoming loss, experiencing difficulty and battling disappointment are realities that we will all face, to varying degrees, at some time in our lives. But how we respond, as we seek to glorify the Lord in the fires of life, is what matters most. Some end up caught in the trap of guilt and sorrow, never finding the grace to move on from their crisis moment in life. Others fall victim to bitterness, giving in to the blame game (a game we always lose), blaming God and others for the hardships they have endured. For these, the remedy of trusting in God’s love and providence is too difficult to accept as a foundation for finding healing. But there are those whose response inspires us to live out our faith with a holy determination to make a difference in the lives of others.

Our guest speaker, 25 years after his son’s tragic suicide, was addressing our students, many of whom were the same age his son was, on the subject of depression and the causes of teen suicide. His message was focused on warning signs that we each need to be aware of, on the need for each person to take an active interest in the lives of those around him, and on the fact that depression can be treated early on and overcome. This was not a man holding on to sorrow and loss; this was a man giving his life to help others teenagers not make the same mistake his son did.

And that’s what impressed me; he made a conscious decision to make the very best of his tragic situation. Standing in front of our teenagers, he was willing to share his heart, hoping to turn his loss into another’s gain. Paul Billheimer wrote a book entitled “Don’t Waste Your Sorrows.” Our speaker that day, Eric Hipple was living this out, not wasting the sorrow of his personal loss. And that is our challenge, to find the courage to do the same, to take our own personal life experiences and turn them into opportunities to share the amazing grace of God with others around us.

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church