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God's Ways

by Jerry Ousley  
6/14/2007 / Christian Living


(based on a true story)

As the morning sun pierced through the thin slits of the blinds covering the window, Charlie (a random named picked for this story), squinted his eyes as he turned his back as much as he could away from the source of light. But he could not fall back to sleep. His mind began to wander. He got up and stumbled to the bathroom to do his morning duty, and then fell back onto the bed. As sleep continued to flee he reached for a bottle sitting on the nightstand beside his bed and knocked over the lamp in the process. Without giving a second thought he half-sat up in the bed, took the cap from the bottle of vodka and turned it up taking two or three large gulps. Coughing down the last mouthful he had taken, his thoughts continued running wildly.

It was Sunday morning and for some reason his mind took him on a journey of the past to a happier time. He was clean shaven and getting dressed to go to church. As he was putting the finishing touches on his tie his wife emerged through the door, "The kids are ready, honey, just let us know when it's time to go." They got in the car and drove off on the bright sunshiny day, singing as they went. What had happened to those days? It seemed like another life another person ago.

He couldn't even really remember what had happened. It was more blurry than looking through the clear spirits swirling in the bottle that once again found its way to his lips. If he continued as he had done for the last he couldn't remember how many Sundays he would be drunk before noon in attempt to chase away these demons of the past that continually threw these scenes before his eyes.

For a couple of years his wife continued the tradition they had established, taking the children on to church, always asking him if he wanted to go with them. He had become quite the inventor of excuses in those days. But when he began drinking there were times his temper got away from him. He couldn't explain why it just happened. His beautiful wife had taken to wearing a lot of makeup on Sunday morning to hide the results of his anger from Saturday night.

One Sunday morning he woke up to a soundless house. He made his way down to the kitchen where he found a note on the table that simply said, "We can't take this anymore. We are gone and will not be back. Don't bother looking for us because you will never find us. Even if you do we will not come back. I do love you, but I have grown to hate what has happened to you. Doreen." That had been five years ago.

He finished the contents of the bottle, and then did something this morning different than what he normally did. He got dressed in the best clothes he had. They were wrinkled with no hope of ironing them out even if he had an iron, but it was the best he could do for now. With a slight stumble to his step as a result of the vodka he had finished off earlier, he made his way down the street, block after block until finally he stopped in front of the church he and his family had attended.

He listened intently to the service, at least as much as he could hear through the doors from outside. The singing resounded in his ears and even though muffled the tune of the song was familiar and he sang along with them in his heart. The message seemed to be tailored just for him and when the invitation was given he fell to his knees, oblivious of anyone who may be watching and renewed his heart with the God of Heaven.

Charlie waited outside the church until all had left, then slipped in to speak with the pastor. He told him the whole story and the pastor prayed with him again. The next Sunday Charlie sat inside the church and sang aloud like he never had before. He wasn't sure if he was on key or not but it felt good to stretch his lungs to His re-found Lord and Savior. He felt alive again and his hope had been restored.

I met Charlie a few weeks later. The church I attended had embarked on a major reconstruction project and it happened that Charlie made his living as an independent contractor. Our pastor had contacted him to help us with a part of the project that our own men couldn't do and Charlie, now eager to do anything to serve his new Master, jumped at the opportunity to do it on his own time and free of charge.

Over the next couple of weeks I got to know the man and learned of his tragedy - turned victory. But his voice still reflected a troubled heart. He talked often about his family and, at times, seemed on the brink of falling into depression. He told me that he was being sorely tempted to return to the bottle once again but had so far resisted. We prayed with him and knew that his own church body was lifting him up as well.

A few days after this Charlie was on his way to the paying construction site where he and his crew had been working for several weeks. He had to go over a railroad crossing that was located just a few hundred feet from the site. It had become every day and was routine by now. His crew members had already arrived and were accustomed to Charlie being late for one reason or another. They saw him approaching the tracks with a train moaning in the distance but they had also grown accustomed to this. Several trains passed there daily while they worked. They thought nothing of it. But then one of the guys noticed Charlie's truck. It slowed as it came to the tracks as if he was going to wait for the train to pass by. But then it crept up on the tracks and was smashed by the oncoming train. Charlie was instantly killed.

No one knew for sure what had happened but the examining doctors suspected that he had experienced a heart attack just as he was approaching the tracks. As he went unconscious from the pain, his vehicle eased up onto the tracks and was hit by the train.

Many questioned God about this. It seemed that the man was just beginning to get it all back together. Why now? With his construction skills he could have done great things for the Kingdom of God, not just here but anywhere in the world. Wouldn't it have made more sense if God would have called him into missions-building or perhaps putting up medical centers in other impoverished countries? But God chose to take Charlie. Maybe God knew that he was near falling and just couldn't take it anymore. Countless questions could be asked but we'll never know their answers on this side of Heaven. The Bible tells us in Romans 11:33 that God's ways are beyond finding out. He has a plan that may seem contradictory to ours but is perfect for what He has in mind.

We don't understand and it's all because we try to bring God's thinking in line with our own. But He is thinking on a much higher plateau than we are. His plans and actions are not based just on what the circumstances are now but on the past, present, and future all at the same time.

One day, when Christ returns, we'll understand the "whys" we have harbored inside of us. Until then, it is futile to try to figure it all out. We never will. But then, just like Charlie knows now, we'll hear it firsthand and we will understand God's ways.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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