When You Can't See the Way To Go - #9495

06/02/23 • -1 min

Our local high school band worked hard to put on some great performances at our football games. I know. Our daughter was one of the trumpet players. I also remember going to band competitions at different schools. We have some precious memories of sitting on the top bleacher with a wind chill that would have made a polar bear go inside. My teeth were chattering loud enough to be in the percussion section! Our band also got to perform in several local parades. But, there's just a handful of high school bands that get invited to play in one of America's really big parades. You know, like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. You know, the Mountain Home, Arkansas, band - not too far from us - they had that thrill.

Inside this exciting adventure for a small town band was a wonderful true story. The band had a tuba player that you might never expect to be in a marching band. He's blind. As you think about that, it raises a lot of questions, doesn't it - about how he could possibly participate in a marching band's maneuvers. The answer is a young woman who dedicated herself to being his guide. She doesn't play an instrument. But anytime that band makes a move, she slips her arm in David's arm and directs him wherever he needs to go. And on Thanksgiving Day, there they were, doing their band routine in the middle of Manhattan's Herald Square - the blind tuba player and the one who guided him there.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When You Can't See the Way To Go."

Some might have thought there was no way that a blind tuba player could ever march with the band. But that would not take into account the one who made it possible - one person always there to guide him.

You have a person like that for the many times when you can't see the way to go. The sightless band member was able to go places he could otherwise never go, and do things he otherwise could never do because of the one who directed him. That's your story, too. It's my story. Because, if you belong to Christ, God's promised that you will never be left in the dark, and never be left clueless.

If you're at one of those anxious, confusing times when the road ahead isn't clear, have I got a promise for you! Oh yeah, it's one of my favorites. It's recorded in Isaiah 42:16. It's our word for today from the Word of God.

It happens to be an anchor verse for me. Your Lord says: "I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them." Wow!

See. this is your promise to claim! You have nothing to fear from the unknown because you belong to the One who can see it all. And how will He show you the way? First, He'll use personalized Scriptures; verses that He will, upon request, guide you to. Verses that will seem like they have your name on them, or in them, and that will be that "light for your path" that the Bible talks about (Psalm 119:105). Secondly, He'll guide you through what I call prayer-time peace. Trust what you feel most consistently in the times when you are alone with God, when other voices are not there to confuse you. God says to "let the peace of Christ rule in your heart" (Colossians 3:15). And thirdly, God will show you the way to go through confirming circumstances - open doors, recurring counsel from godly people, events that echo the Scriptures that He's been giving you.

The "don't know" times are God's instrument to drive you deeper into Him, to surrender any self-reliance for a desperate dependency on your God. You may not know which way to go, but you don't have to stand there fearful, paralyzed or marching in circles. Your Lord, your Shepherd is placing His arm inside yours to lead you where you could never go without Him.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When You Can't See the Way To Go."

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Hero on the Field, But Hero At Home? - #9494

It was one of those years when my New York Giants decided they didn't want to show up for the playoffs that year. Oh, the Super Bowl was always in their stadium, but sadly no blue and white on the field. The odds makers had been predicting that Denver was going to win by one point. They lost 43-8.

Denver Broncos defensive end Shaun Phillips managed to emerge from that blowout a winner still, where it really counts. See, Shaun texted his son Jaylen and said, "Sorry I let you down." His son's answer changed everything. "It's OK Daddy. You are still my hero." Wow! That's perspective. Playing in the Super Bowl - big accomplishment. Being a super dad - that's the biggest victory a man can win.

And suddenly, Shaun was reminded of where putting points on the board matters most. He told his son, "Well, at least we get to hang out now." That little exchange on Super Bowl Sunday was a message for every one of us that someone calls "Dad."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Hero on the Field, But Hero At Home?"

You can be a hero "on the field" - whatever your field is - and be a zero at home. But if you're a hero at home, you can weather the blowouts in all the other parts of your life.

My son tells me, "Dad, it doesn't matter how crazy my workday has been, I'll walk in the door of my house and five minutes with my kids reminds me of what really matters." It's true! I smiled when he said that. He and his siblings did that for me more times than I can count.

Of course, some dads come home to just another battlefield. But the man of the house has more effect on the climate of that house than anybody else. Beginning in the Garden of Eden, God has held the man ultimately responsible for what happens in his family. It's a classic case of "a man reaps what he sows."

That's our word for today from the Word of God, Galatians 6:7, "A man reaps what he sows." So, if you sow unselfishness, you'll start to reap unselfishness. If you sow "I come first," you'll reap a family of people who are all about themselves. So much of that depends on the seed sown by dad. That's why the Bible warns fathers to "not embitter your children or they will become discouraged" (Colossians 3:21). And it says, "fathers do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4).

I came to realize that I was the thermostat in my family, setting the temperature; my wife was the thermometer, reflecting the temperature I set; and my children were the seismograph, registering every disturbance.

Clearly, the central arena of a man's best efforts is to be in his home. And the weight of that life-shaping assignment - with so much potential for being life-scarring instead - has driven me to seek outside help from the God who told us to call Him "our Father."

It was being a husband and being a dad that showed me that I am not enough. My family had needs I couldn't meet because I hadn't figured out how to meet those needs in me. That the things that troubled me in my kids mirrored my own weaknesses. My own baggage. My own sin. That's when the word "Savior" becomes intensely personal. I need a Rescuer from the dark side of me that God calls sin. A dark side that becomes a spreading infection when you have a wife and children.

So I reached out to Jesus. I grabbed Him like a drowning man would grab a rescuer, because, as the Bible says, "the Lord Jesus Christ...gave Himself for our sins to rescue us" (Galatians 1:3). And there I found that this self-centered sinner of a dad could become what the Bible calls "a new creation in Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:17). With God's power, anyone can win the game that matters more than any other - winning the hearts of the children that He gave you.

If you've never begun your relationship with this life-changing Savior, for your sake, for your family's sake would you open your heart to Him today? Go to our website. I think I can help you get started in that relationship. Go to ANewStory.com. It could be the beginning of a new story for you and for those you love.

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Jesus - More Than You Ever Imagined - #9496

All of a sudden The Son of God was in theaters all over the place. Actually, a movie by that name - Son of God. And based on its opening weekend, it was drawing a crowd. Of course that was not the first time something like that had happened. "The Passion of the Christ" turned out to be a blockbuster, too. Who would have guessed that?

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Jesus - More Than You Ever Imagined."

When I was growing up, a movie about Jesus' life wouldn't have shown folks much they didn't know. People knew a lot about Jesus. Not now. Lots of people need an introduction.

A lot of this movie was included in the highly successful TV mini-series called "The Bible." And when it portrayed the torture and the crucifixion of Jesus, the Twittersphere lit up with astonished comments. People were saying, in essence, "I had no idea Jesus went through all of this."

I have a good friend who ministers among his Native American people. He says, "My people consider Jesus an enemy." But he did manage to get a few of them to go with him to see "The Passion of the Christ" which vividly, of course, portrays the unspeakable ordeal that Jesus went through. Afterwards, there was an interesting comment from those folks. They said, "Now we know why you follow Him." Wow! I can tell you this, it sure is why I follow Him.

They didn't take His life. He's the Son of God. He'd have to give it. After all, He made the tree they nailed Him to. He made the men who nailed Him there. In His own words, "I lay down my life...no one takes it from Me" (John 10:17-18).

And all the evidence says that He is, in fact, exactly who He claimed to be - the Son of God. Perfect life, incredible miracles, scores of centuries-old Messianic prophecies fulfilled by His life, and an empty tomb. No religious leader can come back from the grave. That's got to be God.

So it really is the Son of God hanging on that cross. And if the Son of God is going to give His life, it's going to be for something really important. That's where it gets emotional for me, because one of the reasons He went through all that was me.

Along with every other person who has done life their way instead of God's way, which, according to the Bible, is every one of us. The Bible says, "All have sinned and fall short of God's glory" (Romans 3:23). But sadly, even with the visual of a movie, it's still easy to miss the "personal-ness" of what Jesus came to do.

You can look at Jesus and just see a historical figure - which He clearly is. Or you can see Him as a religious figure, starting a religion to follow, and beliefs to believe. But He's so much more. What happened on that cross was intensely personal for each of us. Again, in the Bible's words, "He loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20); my personal Rescuer from the penalty of my personal sin. And He insists on a verdict from each of us about His death for our sins as that being the only hope of being forgiven and of ever entering God's heaven.

One day Jesus did a little "focus group" research with His disciples. He asked, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They gave Him the results of their latest poll. "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

Nice answer, guys. But then Jesus drills down to what may be the most important question any of us could ever answer. It is our word for today from the Word of God in Matthew 16, verses 15 and 16, "'But what about you? Who do you say I am?' Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'"

My friend, the question has not changed. Jesus still moves in close and says- "What about you? Who do you say I am?" And He extends His nail-pierced hand and He waits for your answer, on which your eternity rests.

When you feel the tug of Jesus in your heart, He's come close to offer you the life that only He can give you. It's wise to grab Him while He's close. This might be that time for you. Would you tell Him, "Jesus, I'm yours."

I hope you'll visit our website soon and let me show you the rest of the way to begin your personal relationship with Him. It's ANewStory.com. It's time to get this settled.