Heb 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of
doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day
approaching. NIV
Did you know that we can be of encouragement to one another through worship? I
sure didn't know, especially when I was young and wild and only cared about
myself. But now that I have matured in years a bit (I am called a dinosaur by my
students! It must mean something!) I have started to realize the importance of
regularly coming together for worship. These meetings are not only such a
blessing to me, but I can also be an encouragement to others who attend. And so
are you! Let me share with you what happened to me last Sunday. It's a day I
will never forget!
My brother-in-law and his family had come up from Virginia to orchestrate with
my mother-in-law's moving sale. I was in charge of keeping the kids. That was
easy. They were so happy to be able to play with their cousins that it seemed I
had the best job of everybody.
The sale was to be on Sunday, and it so happened that this was the Sunday of the
Spring time change. And since the sale was to start at 7:00 a.m., by the NEW
time, all the adults (except myself) had get what seemed to be a VERY early
start! I hadn't changed my watch the day before and when I woke up at 6:00 a.m.
I glanced at my watch and said to myself: "It's only 5:00 a.m. by the new time
standards. I better force myself to stay in bed!" So I forced myself to stay
where I was. I tossed here and there. I felt like I was running a marathon!
Finally tired of tossing (this is hard work, believe me!) I got up. My watch
read 6:35, so I figured it was really only 5:35 and I'd have an extra hour to
play with. Then my youngest son came charging upstairs:
"Papa, it is time to wake up! It's 7:35 a.m.!"
"7:35 a.m.? Are you sure?"
"Yes, papa. You remember the time change!"
Oh no! I had it all backwards! Instead of being an hour ahead, I was 2 hours
late! I still had to send the newsletters, feed the kids, get ready for church
and pick up my wife by 9:00 a.m. from my mother-in-law's home 20 minutes drive
away. Normally we had to be in church for 10:00. But this day, my kids had to be
there for 9:30 to help set up the puppet stage for the kids church. I had barely
one hour to get ready before we had to leave, and instead of my usual two kids,
I was responsible for getting four out the door on time!
Feeding the bunch didn't turn out to be so bad after all. The kids had already
fed themselves before I got up, and being a master magician, I was able to
transform myself from a grumpy-looking zombie in pajamas into a decent
(hopefully!) Well-dressed church-goer within the limits of our time restraints.
As I sat down in the driver's seat of the van at 8:30 a.m. with all 4 kids
securely fastened into their safety belts, I went over the usual checklist:
"Do you have your coats?"
"Yes, papa."
"Do you have your Bibles?"
"Yes, papa."
"Do you have your water bottles?"
"Water bottles? Oh no, we forgot them!"
To my horror of horror, I now had to release the troupes, open up the house, and
send them off to accomplish the impossible task of finding their water bottles.
But it got worse. As soon as we were inside, my youngest son yelled:
"Papa. Grams' cats have escaped! We need to find them!"
Sure enough, my mother-in-law's two cats who we were responsible for while she
was in the hospital, were nowhere to be found. In most households, this wouldn't
constitute much of a problem. But because we have 4 pet birds that would be
considered a delicious treat to any pair of felines, we quickly embarqued on a
two-part search: 1. To find a pair of cats; and 2. To find a pair of water
bottles!
After a hectic search (Boy, these cats can run! Try to catch cats who are
determined to remain free to roam around the house with the only purpose of
anticipating a delicious feathered snack!) We had both cats cornered. To make
sure they would not escape again, we put them in their crate and locked them up
in my son's bedroom. Amazingly enough, finding the water bottles was simple
after that search!
We were now back in the car, 20 minutes late, and as I backed out of the garage,
I discovered it had snowed during the night. And not just a little snow either.
Now everyone knows you aren't supposed to have snow in April, so naturally, the
roads hadn't been plowed. Oh no! It took all of my driving abilities, along with
the protective help of many guardian angels to keep us from slipping into the
many attractive-looking ditches, but I finally arrived, 25 minutes late, at my
mother-in-law's place to pick up my wife. We had exactly 5 minutes to get to
church in time to help with the puppet stage.
The rest was history. We flew down the highway, which, miraculously, had been
plowed, and somehow we managed to arrive at church on time. It was a miracle!
As we entered the church, Mr. Jack came to us apologizing. Today there would be
no puppets during kid's church!
We might have been angry, but instead we rejoiced that we were half an hour
early for once. We spent the time before worship meditating over God's Word.
What was amazing is that once worship started, all the stress we had gone
through evaporated. We were an encouragement to one another as we all sang
praise to the Lord. As I looked at my kids and my wife, I realized that there
was no better place to be than in church worshipping the Lord. All our morning
adventures had been worth this special moment. At the end of the service we all
thanked each other for being such an encouragement to one another and praised
the Lord for the special blessing that had been bestowed on us.
My friend, if you are not taking the time to regularly worship the Lord with
other believers, you are missing a huge blessing! Your hectic schedules will
keep your hearts pumping with anxiety. Come to the Lord and hand Him over your
worries, and come rejoice in the company of saints worshipping the Lord. Come
and be a blessing to others and see your burdens evaporate in the presence of
the Lord. You won't regret it!
Rob Chaffart
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
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