"Moving Forward" - Bishop Houston Miles - from the Annual Conference in November.
"Reflect and Celebrate" - Steve Sawyer introducing Bishop Houston Miles at the Annual Conference.
"The Things That Happened to Me"
by Bishop Houston Miles
"I want you to know brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel." Philippians 1:12
Many things happened to Paul. We read of some of them in 2 Corinthians, chapters 11 and 12. Paul tells us three things about these experiences:
1. They did not shake his faith.
2. He delighted in them.
3. God used the to advance the gospel.
In every trial and situation, the devil has a purpose. This is illustrated in the story of a little boy who ran away from home. He had done so before and his parents had threatened a whipping if he did it again. When the time came for the punishment he explained what had happened to his parents. He said, "The devil was pulling on one leg and God was pulling on the other leg, but the devil was pulling the hardest."
In a trial the devil's purpose is to discourage and defeat us. He would like for us to backslide and lose faith in God. But at the same time, God's purpose is to develop perseverance, strengthen our faith and bring us into maturity.
It's not what happens to us but how we react to it. A man stopped by a newsstand to buy a newspaper. He cheerfully spoke to the man behind the counter, but the man did not respond and appeared to be grouchy. He never smiled or returned the greeting. The friend who was with the man purchasing the paper said, "Is he always like that?" The answer was "yes." Then he added, "Do you always smile and speak to him as you did today?" He said, "Yes, I'm not going to let the way he acts determine the way I act."
The same winds that blow some trees over cause other trees to become stronger. The same trials that cause other people to backslide, quit the church and lose faith in God, cause other people to become stronger. Their faith is strengthened and God becomes more real to them.
The course of a ship is not determined by the direction of the winds, but by the set of the sails. The same winds that blow some ships in one direction will blow other ships in a different direction.
What about the things that have happened to us? Have they helped us or hindered us? Did they bring us into a more intimate relationship with God or did they drive us farther away?
Can we say with Paul, the things that have happened to me have strengthened my faith and have been used by God for the Advancement of the Kingdom? |
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