Frozen Creek

Snow Angel on ice layer above creek

Walking along on a frozen creek

Proof of our time on the creek ;)

This winter has been the warmest on record in many places across the nation.  I have to say that I have greatly enjoyed the mild weather and low amount of snow and ice precipitation.  Financially this winter has been wonderful for heating bills and snow removal maintenance.  All in all it has been a pain free and quick winter but this is not usually the case for Central Indiana.

About four years ago, I remember a winter that stayed so cold for a long enough period of time that the large creek by our house froze solid to about 4-5 inches thick in most places.  My friend and I had a great time exploring the nature preserve near our houses where we were able to walk almost a mile on the solid ice of the creek.  It was so incredible that the ice stayed solid enough for us to do this.  It was so neat to see the moving water below the ice.  We truly had a "walking on water" experience that day.

This morning my pastor preached about faith and spoke of a winter where it was cold enough to snow mobile across lakes and even cold enough for small cars such as VW Beetles to drive on the ice.  He talked about this time in relation to faith.  Indeed standing, walking, or driving on ice requires a act of faith.  We have all heard many stories of people who fell through ice and died.  My pastor went on to say that there were two ways to cross the frozen lake.  The first was to cross the lake in fear and trepidation of falling through the ice and the second was to cross the lake in faith that the ice would hold and by doing so being able to enjoy the wonderful nature of the crossing you were doing.

I can relate to his story because there were times that I was the one who was worried about the ice when my friend and I walked a mile on the creek.  In the beginning of our adventure, I carefully analyzed the color of the ice, listened closely for cracking sound, and watched my friend carefully to make sure he was safe on the ice.  My friend on the other hand did not worry about the ice at all but in fact had fun dancing, sliding, jumping, and even making snow angels on the ice.  He was truly able to enjoy the adventure and blessings of such a strange weather anomaly in central Indiana.  As the trip went on I too was finally able to relax and enjoy our adventure.

Life is the same as these two stories.  We can choose to walk through this life in fear of what will happen to us next or we can put our complete faith in God that He will will protect and guide us.  I understand that all the realist reading this post are saying that there is a difference between faith and ignorance and I would agree.  We have to be very careful though in our thinking on faith and ignorance because though we do understand that certain ice situations are very dangerous and should never be attempted faith or not, we have to be extremely careful not to put God in a box of what is possible in this world for our lives.  Do not forget as it says in Ephesians 3:20, "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think." 

Our God will never steer us into a place of danger without a purpose.  He will always be with us and we can always rest assure that there is peace in being in the center of His will.  Also at church today our pastor spoke of a man who lost his life in Iraq on thursday.  He had been teaching at a private Christian school in Iraq for the last seven years when a student came in with a gun and killed him this past week.  Though it is easy to hear this story and think of the tragedy of the story, let's not forget that this man chose to go into danger by teaching in Iraq because he felt called there by the Lord.  This man was able to minister to and teach over 500 kids in the time he was there.  A memorial was done for this man in a mosque in Iraq, which is the first time in known history that a foreigner non-muslim was given a memorial in a mosque in Iraq.  Also many of his students changed their Facebook profile picture to this man's picture as a tribute.


I think it can be said that this man's impact will continue well past his death and that possibly through his death many more will come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.  For all of these things to happen, complete faith was required from this man.  We have to remember that our lives are to be lived for God's glory and not our own.  We are living for eternal things and not the finite things of this world.  I hope today that you will choose to live boldly, filled with faith and assurance, for Jesus today.


Blessings, 


Greg   

My wife and I feel an intense calling on our lives for missions and full-time ministry.  We have created a fundraiser to help us overcome one hurtle to us being able to go to the mission field.  I pray that you will take a moment and check out this link.  I thank you for your consideration and ask that you seek the Lord's guidance in considering contributing to this fundraiser.  Thank you.

http://www.youcaring.com/fundraiser_details?fundraiser_id=3437&url=roadtofreedomforproclaimingchrist