Marching to Glory

March 21 2007

Joel Akin

 When spring comes in like a lamb the lamb sheds its wool and the snow flies. I saw the snow fall just a little yesterday and it got worse over the night. So much I had to get out and shovel. And it wasn't easy. But then again not a lot seems easy these days.

 I've thought about Spring for a long time. Ten years ago I saw that I would be blessed in late winter or early spring. I am also expecting an answer this week as to guidance and direction for my life. I want to do what is right but I want to know that God is in control. And I want to know that finances will come in.

 So all the days of my life do seem like trouble. Now trouble comes in various forms. Some in inward. The inward trouble is the turmoil of worry or fear or anger or thoughts not of yourself. That could mean that God is trying to get through. He does speak and He is capable. He shows me things that I don't understand. He shows me having abilities and guidance and leadership. And yet in my hour of need I prefer the quiet life. And that isn't easy to find. There always seems to be something that is rising up. Something that doesn't make sense. Something that hinders and breaks code and takes hammer and slides it to sledges.

 And yet if, as a Christian, it is my job to be on the right side, then why does the job never seem to end? Why is it that years go by without a clear variation of direction? Do we find wells of life in the middle of the city?

 Living in Calgary isn't easy. It is difficult for various reasons including the traffic. The traffic was the main reason I asked the Lord not to let me move to Calgary. Ironically it was fear of driving in the city that bent me towards a negative reaction. So my first job was as a driver picking up new and used vehicles from car dealerships. Some of them were unusual to say the least. My first pickup was a Dodge Viper. It was a nice one but I couldn't get it into gear. And neither could the mechanic, at least not for the longest time.

 It is the story of life that getting into gear takes a professional and that means God. Marching to Glory is about Marching to the place God wants you to be. Getting there is half the fun, if you will.

 Sometimes the path is strewn with roses but no one warns you about the thorns nor the allergies. Nor the people who want roses. I should know as I worked in a rose garden many seasons in Alberta.

 What about money? We all want it but trying to find it in this age isn't easy. I've often wondered which would come first. Money or the Lord? Now that isn't meant to mean that God isn't there. Its only to wonder what does it take to get a miracle? Now I've had circumstantial evidence for miracles in my life. When I was young I had psoriasis and that was healed. I don't remember much about it but it seemed that I had all kinds of issues as a child. I couldn't seem to find life and it was hard to find joy. I was shy to exceptionally shy and even terrified because it seemed I always had reason. I got angry once in a rare while but that usually escalated issues rather then fixed them. And that took miracles to help.

 The fact is I haven't received the miracles of finances that God has promised as yet. This would be the time people would say to speak it and claim it. Yet what does that mean? What does God desire for us while we wait? Do we fend for ourselves? Do we continue to fight until the finances comes in?

 In these things we have to wait because waiting is the part of the story where I pray and God reveals. And the revealing of finances is like the revealing of life. It comes to those who wait and waiting is like going out day by day to see if the seed is rising up? If we've done all we can then we need to look.

 But where do you look if you don't have a particular seed in the ground? That really is the call of God. God looks at the seed of faith but he also looks at prayer. Prayer is the work towards the seed and if a man prays without ceasing then the life seed has to grow. And if a man has planted his seed amidst the stone then the stone must be broken down.

 Now the stone isn't the cornerstone but the stone of life. For life is the key to hope and if hope is restored then life is returned. And that means life for those who are of life. And it is the hope of men and the hope of people and the hope of dreamers like myself.

 The hope of men is the hope of people who have dreamed for something to happen. It is the hope of those who seek. It is the hope of those who pray.

 There are hopes all around us. Dreamers all around us. People who want all around us. So why should they have and they receive and they obtain? They obtain who seek and they obtain who need and they obtain who want. The Lord isn't going to cast off thoughts. He isn't going to ignore the cry of a man. He isn't going to let go of hope and joy and let go of things that are of life. He is in control. He is coming soon and he will not let go. It is the enemy who comes and waits for the seed and waits to steal it away. And it is the enemy who steals once too often. And that is the way of evil. They take and they eat until they eat themselves to death.

 And if we are wise we will realize that God isn't worried about these facts. The seed is the Lords and the Lord will grant a door that cannot be hindered. It is there and it is going to open. Even if it seems it cannot it will. It will happen and it will come and it will surround you with hope. It is a door that God will make sure will arrive and will come and will stand. And that means God is not going to let go. He is not going to let anger or frustration hinder the work of those who do a work for him. And if you can see it then you don't need faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.

 So in all things give thanks. Give thanks with hope and with joy and with life or love. All things have purpose and all things have joy at least if they have love. Love of God is the joy of things and that is the joy of those who are coming to help. People who have been called. And they are not as others who will run away. They will stand.

 Mom just said I need to move to Lethbridge and get a wife who cares. Someone who help clean my clothes and take care of me and fix my meals. Perhaps she meant a waitress and a cook and a fixer upper. Perhaps she meant someone from another age. Perhaps she said these things by decree. As in she heard them spoken by God to her to prepare her heart for a change. And if so then I need to trust that God will see a way for me to find hope. And that is the life of the Lord for me and for my life.