By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

This little creek runs through the woods not terribly far from where my wife grew up.  Although it cuts through the pines for quite a distance, it never gets much wider than a little stream.  And, as you can see from the picture, it can be quite murky and rather nasty looking.  It’s just a dirty little creek in the woods.  It has no significance whatsoever.  Or does it?

For the occasional fox or deer that fill those woods, it provides a cool drink.  For the wild hog, it provides a muddy place to “root.”  For the bob cat or, yes, the rare black bear that comes roaming through, it provides a place to play and relax a bit.  For the hawks and many other birds, it provides a nice place for bathing and feather washing.

That dirty old neglected and overlooked stream to us is just the opposite for the forest creatures.  God provides.

As we wrap up yet another year and look forward to the next one, should the Good Lord see fit to bring it, I pray that you will remember those two words in that very simple phrase — “God provides.”

As murky, ugly, and cold as 2020 was for so many, it also provided the necessary means to continue on, to provide for our family, to meet our needs.  All because God provides.

Ever doubt those two words?  I know a place in the woods where you can take a stroll, see a dirty stream, and prayerfully change your mind.

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

I took this picture of what I’m calling God’s writing in the sky.  He left a giant exclamation point in the clouds.  Amidst the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season and the beginning of a brand new year, many of us have had several questions for God.  Some of those may have been doubts, but I’m not even talking about doubting the love, the wisdom, or the grace and mercy of God.  I’m referring to questions we can’t help but have right now, such as…

Lord, why did my best friend (neighbor, parent, grandparent, etc.) have to suffer through (and perhaps pass away from) this corona virus?

Lord, why have those we love been “quarantined” or simply shut away from and cut off from the only ones of us they still remember?

Lord, why does this thing keep going, and going, and going…?

Oh, Lord, why?

We ask those questions, and we may seem as if we get no answer.  Remembering that God operates upon God’s time schedule, not ours, we re-focus and take a deep breath, knowing that, just as the Scriptures remind us, all things (every thing, every disappointment, every struggle) will eventually work out to glorify the Father.  By coming through the year 2020, every single one of us will have something to add to our list of things we can witness and testify about to the goodness of God!  — Even if the only thing you can come up with is, “Thank God it’s over!”

But, in all of our thoughts, every one of them listed above ends with a question mark.  God ends His response to us, not with a question mark, but with a giant exclamation point!  He reminds us He is in charge!  He is still God!  Good will ALWAYS reign over evil!  Yes, an exclamation point just like the one I saw painted in these clouds!  An exclamation point!  “Sit still, My child!  Look to Me!  Question Me if you must, but learn to lean on Me!”

Look, listen, and learn as the Lord exclaims His love for His children!

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

Have you ever visited a lighthouse?  Have you ever climbed to the top of one?  The historic Tybee Island Lighthouse sights on Tybee Island, Georgia, the eastern terminus for U.S. Highway 80.  The island is filled with little shops and beach homes and condos.  And of course, the lighthouse still stands.  Once used to warn vessels at sea, the lighthouse can be visited as a tourist attraction now, along with the nearby museum.

On one such visit, I climbed to the top of the lighthouse.  One of the views I had from up there is the one you see here.  I was looking east over those homes to the Atlantic Ocean.  

The lighthouse is such a simple example of what the Christian is to be in this world.  Especially now, in this holiday season of one of the weirdest years many of us have yet to experience, we need to shine the light of Christ to warn others of the impending doom of continuing in the darkness.

Just as a keeper once made sure the lights were always operational atop that old lighthouse, we are to keep the light of Christ and of the Christmas season burning all year long.  Lives depend upon being able to see the light!  One of my late father-in-law’s favorite songs was one called “The Lighthouse”.  A southern gospel favorite, the song spoke about that old lighthouse that still stands up there on the hill.  

Stand strong.  Shine brightly.  Choose to make a lasting difference in the lives of those you meet this holiday season.

Just a thought.