Somewhere Over The Rainbow...

This morning, during the last 2 miles of my 16 mile run, my mind started to wander towards the many rainbows that I've seen over the past few weeks. I began to think about running and what I cling to in order to get me through the rough miles and how the promises of God are what I hold onto during the difficult days when the exhaustion begins to kick in. This idea of rainbows and promises has kept coming back to me over and over this month. I went to a funeral last week for one of my little patients and as I walked in, the song "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" was playing in the background. Later that afternoon, another rainbow appeared in the sky reminding me about the God who placed it there...a faithful Father who keeps His promises to His children.

Over the past few months, through a great book called Shattered Dreams (Larry Crabb), God has taught me a few, unexpected, lessons about His promises.

At the end of 07 and beginning of 08, I spoke alot about the concept of rescue. I prayed for God to rescue me and people I loved from difficult circumstances. I discussed it with those around me and told them that this would be my theme for the year. Surely, after the past few years, a rescue must be coming. God, certainly, would be coming through for me at any moment-I just knew it.

I'm sure God just smiles when I tell Him how He's going to work in my life for the coming year.

I thought (of course!) relationships would be better, work problems would be settled, dad would find the perfect church, on and on I could go. However, here I sit on the second half of the year-circumstances largely unchanged. It seems, on the surface, that rescue did not come for me. And, looking at the surface, that would be true. God did not rescue me from painful things going on in my life. He did not give me the kind of rescue that would make life a batch of sunshine and roses...but, instead, He rescued me from myself and from my beliefs about what life should be. He gave me a far better gift than fixing all of my problems. In this book, Crabb writes "One way He works is to allow our lower dreams to shatter. He lets us hurt and doesn't make it better."

I tend to think of myself as a big dreamer. I will set my skies high and go after my goals. But I have often wondered, "Does God have even bigger dreams for me than I do for myself?" I believe that He does, but His dreams are not for my personal comfort, for wealth, or relationships-No, God's dreams are about crushing those lower dreams so that I can learn to desire and dream about experiencing God, truly knowing Him in an intimate way, and living a life that doesn't settle for middle class christianity. I want what Crabb describes in this way, "We begin to feel a desire to know Him that not only survives all our pain, but actually thrives in it until that desire becomes more intense than our desire for all the good things we want."

I don't always know what the "big picture" looks like. I don't always understand why God has ordained certain circumstances. But, by God's grace, at the end of the day I have been able to say that God is still God and that "My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus blood and righteousness." And, now, I can gratefully see that the trials and the ability to sustain my faith by His grace have been life's greatest blessing. He has used the shattering of lesser dreams to draw me closer to Himself...that is the greatest rescue of all.

Our God's promises are true, whether we stand and sing at the highest mountain top of life or stand and cry waistdeep in the darkest valley, He is a God who is faithful to what He has promised us...

~"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed for His compassions never fail." Lamentations 3:22

~"Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away." Isaiah 35:10

~"The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will NOT grow tired or weary and His understanding no one can fathom." Isaiah 40:28

~"No Eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him." Isaiah 64:4

~"The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing." Psalm 145:13

~"The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:17

God didn't promise for life to be easy or pain free. He didn't guarantee a smooth sailing road right into heaven. But He did promise that "Surely, I am with you always, even to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:20)

...And then He gave us rainbows

DisappointmentHisappointment

Dear One:

I write to provide an update on our latest adventures.

1) In late June I accepted a call from the Cypress Ridge Presbyterian Church (PCA) of Winter Haven to become their pastor. CRPC is a member of the SW Florida presbytery which meant that I would have to be accepted by that presbytery to become the pastor of CRPC. All my life I have been in the Presbytery of Central Florida. Normally, a transfer of this nature is simple, quick and painless, but I expected it may be more difficult for me, and so it proved.

2) On July 19 I was presented before a special meeting of Southwest Florida Presbytery. I was examined for 1.5 hours and then debated for 1.5 hours before being told that my theology exam was not passed. The presbytery told me I was free to meet with their examining committee and try again that way.

3) On Wednesday, August 6, I met with the examining committee (6 men) of the Southwest Florida Presbytery. I had been warned ahead of time that the makeup of the committee would not be in my favor, but I felt I owed it to the church to try. After a 2.5 hour exam focusing on only three issues, my exam was again not approved.

4) On Thursday August 7, the elders of CRPC called to let me know that they saw this as the Lord’s leading and were going to release me to continue my search as they continue their own.

What prevented my approval by the SWF presbytery? This can be rather hard to understand. Presbyteries differ from one another in personality. Some are more doctrinally rigid/narrow, some more flexible/broad. The SWF group is in the former category and under the influence of a pastor/professor who is very committed to a cessationist view on spiritual gifts. This is the understanding that so-called “sign” gifts, by which they mean prophecy, tongues, healing, miracles etc. were only for the apostolic age. Since I do not find such a teaching in Scripture and will not assent to it without Biblical grounds, I am seen to be compromising the finality and sufficiency of Scripture and am thus a danger to the flock.

So, how are we doing? Beth is ok. I am bruised, battered, discouraged and heartily disappointed as I did find the body of believers in Winter Haven a delight, and the opportunity to get back in ministry thrilling. I now face the daunting task of starting over again in my search.

Once again, for those who have supported us in prayer, we bring news that is disappointing. Yet our God is a faith-building God and He obviously believes our patience can be stretched a little or maybe a lot further. If you would continue to persevere with us in prayer, we would be so appreciative of that. We want to understand what this latest providence means. Is the Lord possibly challenging us to some change in direction? This is all a part of the journey on which we find ourselves.

One of my favorite hymns says, “I am not skilled to understand what God has willed, what God has planned. I only know, at His right hand, stands One who is my Savior.” And that, ultimately, is enough to know.

Under the Mercy,
Dan (for Dan and Beth) (if you care to respond to dan personally, try dandhendley@hotmail.com

Our trips...

So Mer and I have taken two trips this summer, one to Virginia for Jonathan's wedding which also included stops in NC, Charleston, and Savannah, the other trip was back down to WPB/Ft. Lauderdale to hang with Mer's family over the July 4th weekend.

Our big trip around the Dixie was a welcome rest after the Spring semester and gave us an opportunity to get away from life in Orlando enjoy family, friends, and each other. I found the trip to be most helpful because it provided me an opportunity to stop doing all activities in Orlando and to gain some perspective on where God has us and what I need to do next to prepare us for our last year at seminary. Along with the much needed rest we also were happy to enjoy the festivities around Jonathan's wedding, and to enjoy two of the South's oldest and most prominent cities in Charleston and Savannah. Our time in both Charleston and Savannah was full of good places to eat, beautiful old downtowns, and even some interesting people (we even made friends with a couple who owned their own island in the Bahamas.)

Our smaller trip down to South Florida was a whole lot of fun as we got to hang out with Mer's cousin Alan and his wife Kami. We had a blast running around WPB and Ft. Lauderdale with the cousins while we also got an incredible fireworks show from Mrs. Sherlin's 16th floor condo on the beach.

Now we are back in Orlando getting ready for the up coming semester.

P.S. I have added a video from our craziness on 4th of July.