Choices Made and Promises Kept

I began appreciating the sermons of Rev. Dr. Charles Stanley, pastor of First Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2010. The Holy Spirit compelled me to listen and after fifteen years or so, Dr. Stanley said something that was transformational in my life. He told his congregation and viewers around the world, that his father had been an abuser of himself, his siblings, and his mother for many years. Dr. Stanley indicated that his father drank heavily, and brutally beat Dr. Stanley’s mother. He and his brothers and sisters were terrorized by their father’s behavior towards them. Dr. Stanley had hated his father all of his life because of what he had done to his family, but as an adult, and long after his parents had separated and divorced, Dr. Stanley decided to approach his father confront him about his past hurts and current inner turmoil. However, the Holy Spirit led Dr. Stanley go to his father and apologize to rather than confront his father, and to ask him for forgiveness for the ill feelings he had had towards him all of his life. Having an interactive relationship with God enabled him to initially object to the command, but he eventually obeyed the request. When his father heard the apology, as well as the request for forgiveness, he began to confess everything he had done to his family, and he, in turn, asked for forgiveness of Charles Stanley. So instead of one person being accusatory and one being defensive, the scenario was such that two people were asking for, and receiving forgiveness. When I heard this confession, I knew why God had asked me to listen to Dr. Stanley all of these years. It was for that defining moment when he would say something profound that I could resonate with, and it was well worth the wait. But the story doesn’t end there… Later that day, I was scheduled to have a meeting with someone who was head of a philanthropic organization, and who was to determine whether or not I would be eligible to receive funding for my doctoral studies. I was not at all surprised when she showed up with her daughter since I had come to realize as a pastor that it was not always right and proper to meet with a member of the opposite sex without others present or in the vicinity. I shared the story with the two of them that I had heard Dr. Stanley tell earlier in the day and I received a startling reaction from the funder’s daughter. Clearly shaken, the story had significant meaning to her daughter, so much so that I paused and realized that God had spoken through me to her! I surmised that the story had revealed to the young woman a way to approach someone whom she had had a similar conflict, and I was quite sure she knew God had spoken through me directly to her. It was as if God had been preparing me for 15 years for that exact special moment in time for me to be an emissary to explain to her what she had to do. A week later I received one of the largest scholarship donations the organization had ever given!! All I could think of was how amazing God truly is, how He had conceived that plan 15 years prior, and how my obedience to his word had granted me the riches and rewards of heaven right here on earth. It was truly awesome, and just a little bit scary.