Chapt 1 (Part 2): Don't let circumstances decide how I'll serve the Lord. Let my conviction decide.

After Loren figures out that all that he had left was nothing but his wife, God brought him through a rather interesting test. Loren was on the make shift home van and his wife was driving it while he took a rest. Lo and behold, before he could close his eyes, he was swerved about the van left and right and the rest was history. He awoke from him unconsciousness and couldn make sense of what he was doing sitting in such a wreckage. Besides the mess that he saw around him was his wife lying unmoving. Darlene was not breathing and her eyes were wide open. No matter how Loren tried to call out to Darlene, there was not a single response. The only conclusion Loren made was.. she's gone!

At this very point of time, the Lord asked Loren, "Loren, will you still serve me?" What a question to ask at this juncture I thought to myself. And the thoughts of how I would react flooded my mind. Would I just brush the question away? Would I just leave God? Would I just not want to serve the Lord anymore? It was really a tough question to answer especially when I know God has taken someone so dear to me away.

God brought me back to what Ps Khong preached about today - The blood of the crown.
#1: Turns failure into FRUITFULNESS - there is great gain
#2: Turns frustration into FRESHNESS - there is gladness
#3: Turns fear into FAME - there is glory

I saw these 3 points so evident in Loren's life. At the point of time when Loren had lost his life and also his all, he still answered the Lord, "Yes, I'll serve You. I have nothing left except my life... and You can have that too..." Here stood a man who understood the blessings of the Cross and the blood of the crown. Though there was a sense of despair, but Loren still chose the Lord despite all that has happen. I can only marvel at how much Loren understood God and trusted in Him. There was a sense of gain, gladness and glory Loren carried with him at that time when he was with the Lord despite the circumstances around. And I totally believe because Loren chose to put the Lord first, the Lord honoured that and saved Darlene by His miraculous way. The Lord has indeed turned every negative situation at that very point of time into something that was for more worthwhile. As I read and reflected, I know there is power that God can release when we lay down our rights. Loren said in his book, until the moment he thought he'd lost everything, he never realized that nothing in this life actually belongs to him.

When I surrender my personal rights to the Lord, for His sake and the sake of the gospel, I can discover the secret of inheriting the whole world for Him.

God, bring me to understand a deeper measure of the blood of the crown and teach me to serve You not based on circumstances around me, but based on my conviction for You in my life. :)