May 28, 2021 (Friday)
Dale Pogue and I have been friends ever since I moved to Rockport 57 years ago. When I became pastor at Rockport, he was already on the staff of the First Baptist Church of Taft. He has served in many positions in his service to the Lord since then, including staff member of several churches, pastor or interim pastor of some great churches, pioneering the South Texas Children’s Home Counseling Service, serving as chairman of the Human Welfare Commission of BGCT (Texas Baptist). He also served his country in the military. He became a staff member of the First Baptist Church of Rockport where I was serving as pastor in the 1980s. During that time my wife Wanda and I grew to love his wife, Ann, and their two children, Laura and Lee, who now have families of their own. Our relationship has been precious.
Coincidentally, both he and I have had some serious health problems recently. He had surgery and each of us was in a hospital. Day before yesterday he visited me. I offered him my recliner but he chose another chair. We had a very nice visit and he left after we enjoyed each other’s company for a short while. A few hours later, the ceiling light fixture, made of thick glass, over the chair in which he had been sitting, fell down and broke into many pieces as it hit the chair and bounced onto the floor. Neither of us suspected it would fall because it had been there 52 years.
I called Dale and told him that he had narrowly escaped injury while we were visiting. Of course, being the elderly gentlemen that we are, we had fun as we joked about it.
I have said many times in sermons through the years that we should be thankful for all the times in our lives when God was watching over us in dangerous situations that we knew about. I said also we should be thankful for all the times when God has protected us when we knew nothing about it. I am convinced that all of God’s children are under the protective hand of our Lord. We never knew about that head-on collision that never happened, or that disastrous fire that we never even dreamed about, or the time that we were kept safe working on a roof unaware of an awful fall that God prevented. I would like to suggest a sequel to the book, “When Bad Things Happen to Good People,” entitled “When People Were Protected By The Lord In Ways Of Which They Were Never Aware.”
Editing a verse of the hymn, “Amazing Grace:” “Through many unknown dangers, toils and snares, I have already come. ‘Tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.”
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection (Psalm 91:4 NLT).
UNDER HIS WINGS
Words: William Cushing
Music: Ira Sankey
circa 1850
1 Under His wings I am safely abiding.
Tho’ the night deepens and tempests are wild,
Still I can trust Him; I know He will keep me.
He has redeemed me, and I am His child.
Refrain:
Under His wings, under His wings,
Who from His love can sever?
Under His wings my soul shall abide,
Safely abide forever.
2 Under His wings, what a refuge in sorrow!
How the heart yearningly turns to His rest!
Often when earth has no balm for my healing,
There I find comfort, and there I am blest. [Refrain]
3 Under His wings, oh, what precious enjoyment!
There will I hide till life’s trials are o’er;
Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me.
Resting in Jesus, I’m safe evermore. [Refrain]