Apples of Gold
Radio Script for July 7, 2008
“Why Didn’t I Do Some Big Thing With My Life?”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
There was an engagement party for my son last night.
A year from now he will be married.
Also yesterday I helped him move out.
It was a big day, and big days make you think about the big picture of your life.
As we drove along he asked me why I had spent my life working at local Christian radio stations. Why didn’t I do some big thing with my life, such as join a national ministry, or even start my own.
I told him I didn’t really know. Here is the way I have lived my life. I simply try to walk with God, then do what I think He is leading me to do.
I compared it to being a simple private on D-Day in World War II. Imagine a private that wasn’t too bright, and never did well in school. General Eisenhower and other brilliant strategists drew up all the plans for the invasion, including all the soldiers and the training and the supplies and the ships and planes and bombs and weather and coded messages. A million details, and the simple private – just thinking about it made his brain explode. He literally did not have the brainpower to comprehend it.
However, he knew enough to do what he was told. “Get off this boat, get across the beach, and take out that machine gun nest,” or whatever. He couldn’t comprehend the entire plan, but he could do what he was told.
That’s the way I feel when I try to understand what God is doing in the world. Just thinking about it makes my brain explode. I can’t comprehend it. Billions of people all over the planet, all doing things every day. All those dreams and hopes and hurts and disappointments. All the love and hate and intrigue. I know God is up to something in everyone’s life, but I can’t grasp it. Honestly, I can’t even grasp what He’s doing in my neighborhood, or in my own church.
So God is the brilliant strategist, and I am the simple private. Who am I to make my own plans?
So I try not to. Instead I try to walk with God, then do what He leads me to do.
That is how we ended up in Florida. I believe it was the Lord’s leadership that brought us here.
And that move greatly affected my son. We moved in the middle of his junior year in high school, and he didn’t like it. He was uprooted from all his friends, and everything looked bleak. He didn’t understand why we moved, and all he talked about was moving back.
And all I could say was, “This is what I think the Lord was leading us to do.”
Of course now he sees things quite differently! The Lord has done many great things in his life since then. He is more fired up for God than ever. He has made great new Christian friends. He is involved in ministry. And best of all, he is engaged to a wonderful Christian young lady who shares his passion for the Lord. They are best friends, and their future is incredibly bright.
And I think that happened because, instead of making our own plans, we were willing to follow the leading of the Lord.
Who knew that things would turn out so well for my son?
God knew.
What would his life be like if I had done what was wise in my own eyes?
Back to that lowly private. Picture him standing at the edge of a mine field. Sure, he could step out and do whatever he thought was best. But that’s asking to get blown up. The best thing would be if someone could walk with him, walk him safely through the mine field.
To me, life is like a mine field. If we step out and go wherever we think is best, we risk getting blown up. But when we walk with God, He will lead us exactly where we need to go.
God is the brilliant strategist. He knows what is best. I am the lowly private. The best I can do is walk with Him.
Then the monkey is off my back. I don’t have to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders. I don’t worry about things I can’t control, which is almost everything. God will have to take care of all that.
My part is to simply do my part. And today that means working at this radio station, helping out at church, and caring for my family. No, it’s not a “big” thing. But it’s a “called” thing. It’s what I’m called to do at this time.
Now a lot of people will ask, “How can I know specifically what I’m called to do?”
How did Noah know to build the ark? He knew it because God said it and Noah heard it.
And what put Noah in a position to hear God? Genesis 6:9 says, “…he walked with God.”
And that’s the key. You want the Lord’s leadership? You want to hear from Him, receive His guidance?
Then give up your own plans. Take that map you’ve drawn up for yourself and throw it out. In a complex world, we simply cannot know what is best.
Instead, we do like Noah. We do like Enoch. We do like all the great ones over the years. And what did they do? They simply walked with God.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2008 The Arrow’s Tip
To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here: http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one: douglas_apple@msn.com
(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-
No comments:
Post a Comment