Many of us spend too much time practicing "other-control" when we should be practicing self-control.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."
Galatians 5:22
When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, the church I was serving was near Fort Chaffee. The TV announcers said the government planned to bring a couple thousand hurricane survivors to the fort to get them out of the disaster area. That was a Saturday.
By Sunday, the number of hurricane survivors headed to the fort was more than 15,000.
Our community and churches were ill equipped to handle such a large influx of people.
I had become a part of the relief efforts and was overwhelmed with scheduling of things.
I had to schedule meetings with area churches to set up worship times, meetings with the sergeant major and base captain to set up delivery of water to the barracks, times for counselors to come in, meetings with local families wanting to help temporarily "adopt" some of the barracks families and meeting with the governor's office, FEMA, Red Cross and many other agencies.
I was busy. Too busy, it seemed to have that pesky thing called God to intrude in my life.
Over the weeks, things grew worse and more intense. Walking down the streets between barracks one day a man named "Charles" came up to me, grabbed my hands and said, "Pastor Troy, tell me the Good News!"
I didn't know what to say.
I was too busy for this. I had meetings to get to and phone calls to make. Now all of a sudden somebody with a real zeal and earnest way wanted me to tell them about God. It's what I would normally pray for as a pastor, but I was at a loss for words. I stumbled something out, trying to remember my sermon from Sunday.
He said "Thank you. That's what I needed." And we went our separate ways.
The next day, he came up me, grabbed my hands and said, "Pastor Troy, tell me the Good News."
I stammered something out about how God loves everyone and he said, "Thank you. That's what I needed."
The next day I was ready for him. When he came up to me I grabbed his hands and said, "Charles, this is the Good News!"
Every day for weeks Charles and I held our devotional meeting on the streets of the lonely barracks of Fort Chaffee. And every day, he became a blessing to me. He was my own personal miracle because during my own self-important busy schedule I had forgotten the most important things in life are the times we spend with God. He taught me to earnestly seek God and to keep a barely contained zeal about the grace God so freely gives to us all.
I lost contact with Charles over the months and years after the hurricane. Then one night the phone rang. Usually as a pastor a late night call is never good. But it was Charles. He was at a revival meeting. He told the congregation how every day we held our devotional meetings and some of them remembered me.
"I've got a present for you," he said.
He held the phone up in the small inner-city church somewhere in New Orleans and the congregation sang to me every verse of "Amazing Grace."
Let us pray.
Dear God. As we come to you today, we ask that you remind us to constantly seek after you. We know that hearing the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings us real life and today we ask that you let us experience first-hand that Good News. We pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
PASTOR TROY CONRAD IS MINISTER OF THE FARMINGTON UNITED METHODIST CHURCH.
Religion on 04/15/2015