-Strenght for Today- “Lessons My Dad Taught Me.” - Psalm 37:23-24.

Over the years,?I’ve?met?“many well-educated men,”?who’ve?impressed me?“with the velocity”?related to?their particular?“fields of giftedness.”?On the other hand, my dad was a man whose formal education?“ended at the?third-grade?level,”?due to?“the circumstances that existed during those times.”?Even though?“the formality of education wasn’t there,”?he humbly taught me to?“not neglect my soul,”?and?“to associate Christianity as my principle of purpose in life.”?-Matthew 7:12; Luke 6:31.?

?What he taught me?“wasn’t from a formal educational point of view,”?but these instructions?“were?the reality of truth.” He said:?“today you have the rights to opportunities that was denied to me.?But today you need to know that?“opportunity is like a “one-way street,?that’s”?engineered?“to go one way.”?But, son,?“now is your time,”?while you’re young to?“take advantage of the opportunities before you.”?Today,?you’re?standing?“on the shoulders of others like me,” who’re enabling you to see?beyond the shadows of yesterday.”?

??And with such sight,?your?ways?and?your days”?won’t have to be?“muffled by the evil deeds of yesterday.?Another way of saying this could be?“do your duty.”?My dad never said those words, exactly like?I’ve?expressed them to you.?But?“his intent,” “his pattern of life,” “his work ethic,”?and?the love he showered on us,?as I look back told me:?“no matter how hard things get,” “no matter how many times you fall down,”?“get up and try again.”?And to this the Word of God says:?“the steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his way. Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the LORD upholds him with His hand,”?(Psalm 37:23-24), you see, God ordains every step we take:?“the good,” “the bad,” “the happy,” “the sad,” “the positive,”?and?“the negative.”?

So,?“the lesson that I learned from my dad”?is?“no man can order your purpose.”?Because the Bible says:?“In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to?the purpose of Him who works all things according to the Counsel of His will”?- Ephesians 1:11. So, regardless of?what’s?seen,?it’s?only temporary,?and “is only there for a season.??

??Because,?“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven”?-Ecclesiastes 3:1. Daddy taught me that there is a purpose in waiting. Because?“they that wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; …"?Isaiah 40:31.?

?Waiting on the Lord, is?“all about having faith,”?to?“anticipate?hope”?all the while,?“expecting Him to act according to His purposeful promise”?Much of who I am,?“the good,”?“the bad,” and?even?“the ugly”?are?“traces of my dad.”?Like him?“I am a sinner.”?Like him?“I am sinner saved by grace.”?– Ephesians 2:8-10.??

Author: Plez Lovelady, Jr., PhD