By faith Enoch was translated so that he did not see death . . . for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Heb_11:5-6)

Before Enoch was taken to heaven, he walked with God in a manner that pleased the Lord. Enoch’s faith in God is what was pleasing unto Him. “Before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him.” Pleasing God, as Enoch did, should be our desire.

Many people waste their lives by aiming at pleasing themselves. Their lives are choked with self-indulgence. “And the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity” (Luke 8:14). They have ignored the fact that pleasing self cannot lead to spiritual growth and Christlikeness. “We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves . . . For even Christ did not please Himself” (Rom_15:1, Rom_15:3).

He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap
(Psalms 113:7 ESV)

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
(Psalms 147:3 ESV)

“Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?” (Amos 3:6). The answer of the prophet is no. God’s own testimony is the same: “I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things” (Isaiah 45:7). And if we ask, is there intelligent design in it all, the Bible answers: “You meant evil . . . but God meant it [designed it] for good” (Genesis 50:20). [Source]

Today for our sermon, we read 2 Cor. 1:5-7 and verse 6 reads, “If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same suffering.” Yes, for my brothers and sisters out there, I should have been thinking of their suffering and not my inconvenience of gas. That was wrong, as some even pointed out.

Verse 7 concludes, “Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share incur suffering, you will also share in our comfort.” As Pastor Glenn told us this morning, yes, we need to suffer with the saints as well as share in their comfort. We can not just remember the good times and forget the hard ones. We need to think of their suffering and I sadly must say, I wasn’t. Forgive me.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith. (Romans 1:16-17)

They say faith is a Crutch, and I have to agree. What they don’t tell you is that everyone needs a Crutch. Today we attended the funeral of a three year old girl who has grown up with Nathan. People were sobbing just looking at the program. In that room with hundreds of people, there was no one strong enough to not need a Crutch. [Full Text]

I awoke frustrated and deflated. I didn’t even want to get up and try after losing with my previous six hour battle. I had to drop off my car, too, and figured might as well do that. Liz and the family followed me and we did that after which we ate breakfast. I wanted to enjoy my family before the dreaded day started.

When I got home and started working on it, it was the same as the previous night. With the modem, I kept getting prompted for the “Windows Modem Install Disk” which I had none and it didn’t like the modem driver package that I had. I figured my driver trick must have messed it up, so I formated the drive and re-installed Win98SE. After the install, same issues. Ugh.

I found something late last night called DriverMagic that seemed to be getting the hardware fingered but it’s drivers weren’t working either. Finally, I fudged on the modem and got it! The Plug-n-Pray wizard had the wrong COMM port! Ugh. After that, I tried another manufacture driver, SoundMAX which failed. I then tried yet another common driver, Realtek, and rebooted. I was greeted with the groovy sound the Windows98 demo. What a sweeeet sound that was! Thank you, Lord!

After all that hassle, sweat, and tears, I was relieved to be done with it. I dropped into Katelyn’s room with mommy and her to read a story. Nice little break and I just love cuddling Katelyn. It was a wonderful way to end the most stressful 24 hours I’ve had in a long time. Trust in the Lord, He’ll work it out.

I have a little boy who waits for his daddy at the end of the street.

For several years, we lived at the end of a long Texas country road. Every evening when I was away from home on business, my little boy would ask permission of his mother to take his black lab and his daddy’s blackthorn walking stick, to make the half-mile journey from the house to the picket fence which marked the beginning of the dirt driveway.

One day, I was delayed in my business. Some seemingly all-important grown-up concern distracted me. I forgot about the faithful little boy down the road who might be waiting for his daddy.

On my way home, the floodgates of heaven opened. For several minutes, the rain was so thick I could not see ten feet in front of me. All I could think of was finishing my journey and getting out of the rain. Finally, the downpour began to abate. It was only a drizzle by the time my car turned the last corner and approached the final street between me and a warm home and nice meal.

But in less than a fraction of a second, my business priorities, my concerns, and my grown-up thoughts would fade and vanish.

There was my little boy. He was holding a rickety umbrella in one hand, a walking stick in the other, and was wearing the biggest and most beautiful smile ever to grace the face of a little boy.

As I stopped the car and opened the door, he ran into my arms and held me long and hard. He was wet and shivering, but he never mentioned the rain, nor the hour-long wait, that I later discovered he had endured just to greet his father. He simply said: “Daddy, I missed you, I am so glad you are home.”

All afternoon he had been thinking of one thing: his daddy. He had lived for the time he could make the journey to the end of the road and for that one moment when he would run into my arms and tell me he loves me. Like the dog beside him, his devotion and faithfulness would not even be broken by a tardy father and a rainy day. His day and his world revolved around that one moment when he could say to himself: “I am with my Daddy again.”

One day we moved to a wonderful new home provided by the Lord for a special season in our lives. The little boy down the road is a little bit less little. We no longer have a long country road. Now we have a giant tree. It is often beside that tree that my little boy waits for me now, sometimes with his regiment of brothers and sisters, now old enough to venture beyond the castle walls of our home.

The tree is adorned with climbing ropes, with occasional buckets hanging off the limbs, and with the many markings of boys who thrill and delight to climb and conquer the kingdoms of trees. In the evening time, we sometimes have what we call “tree time.” This is a special thirty minutes when Daddy and sons climb into the tree and just talk. It’s a time for stories, for imagination, and for just being boys in trees.

But I have never forgotten the rainy day and the little boy and his dog. Often, perhaps a thousand times, my mind has wandered back to that scene. Like all events in our lives, it happens once, and must be savored and treasured.

I think it was this day that I grew to understand what it meant when Jesus said that true Christianity is having the faith of a child. The evidences of this faith are simple love, unfeigned loyalty, and the passion — the all-consuming passion — to be with the Father.

How thankful I am that our Heavenly Father will never be distracted, lose perspective, or switch priorities away from His beloved sons. He will not leave us waiting, nor will He need rain and storms to refocus His attention on us.

Oh God, help us to be more like You, to have the simple faith of our children, and to understand that more than anything else, our children crave a relationship with us, even as You crave one with each of Your children.

Epilogue
Someday my little boy won’t be waiting at the end of the road. Someday he won’t ask me to climb “our” tree to hear Daddy stories. Someday the wonders of bugs and butterflies will be exchanged for the dreams of noble manhood. Someday we will discuss what it means to love a woman. On yet another more distant day, we will look at new life and discuss, not only as father and son, but as friends, the joys of raising children for the glory of God. Perhaps even someday, we will live to see our children’s children walk in the grace of the light of God.

All of this by God’s grace and mercy. But for now, my little boy still likes to climb trees, to snuggle in bed, to hug and kiss, and to wrestle on the ground with his five-foot-eight father, who, for just a few more years, appears to be an insurmountable giant. What a gift! What a gift!

You may not have a little boy down the street, but perhaps you have a little girl looking out the window, or a baby in the crib, or a young man on the phone. Whatever gifts of life God has given you, and in whatever stages of their lives you find them now, remember that this season is a gift from God which lasts for but a moment, and will then be gone forever. Have the faith of a child. The message of life is relationships. Don’t leave the little boy down the road waiting for long.

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” Isaiah 6:1-5 (ESV)