Insightful Musings on theScriptures
by
Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67
Good evening, dear people
The day is pretty much history. I didn’t get as much done as hoped. I wanted to crank up the lawnmower and cut some grass that is now growing like crazy. It was a nice day to work outside. I helped a friend fashion a couple canes to assist him with need following an injury. I also did do something I have not done since we lived in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. I finally made use of an “Alaska sawmill” frame, using a big Stihl 090 with a 60” bar, allowing me to cut slabs up to about 52” wide. We can just call it chainsaw milling. I had to modify the mill frame from its original 36” bar capacity. The system worked quite well. I have some big Sequoia logs I want to slab up for table tops and patio furniture. I am limited to only 24” width of cut on my main sawmill. I was able to knock out two good slabs about 30” wide.
Yawn. Well, have a good sleep. I’m feeling like I’m about ready for one. Good night.
Love, Dad/Ray.
Please repeat after me: I NEED THE REFINING INFLUENCE OF TROUBLE IN MY LIFE IN ORDER TO GROW AND DEVELOP INTO AN ACCEPTALBE AND PLEASING SERVANT TO MY LORD AND MAKER. Wow! Did you hear what you just said? Now—here is the big question: Is that a true statement that you personally embrace at heart level—or did you just say it because I tricked you into it?
Just think what arrogant self-centered knuckleheads we would be if everything always went our way. It would be almost impossible to avoid the notion that it was because we were so smart, strong, and self-sufficient so as to make it all work out that way. And if that notion is one that robs us of our sense of need for relationship with our Maker and submission to His Lordship, it has to be an evil notion. Therefore, all those troubles we face, the pain, the infirmities, the setbacks, the suffering—they are actually corrective blessings. Properly handled, they help to “cleanse away evil” and “purge the inmost being”—leading us to humble worship. That heart condition of brokenness is exactly what David is applauding in Psalm 51:16-17: “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”