Finishing Strong

I penned these words as I sat in a rest area on my way home from a hard trip to Michigan.

This was a weekend of storm for our Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief family.  The whirlwind came without warning on a dark, Friday afternoon.  A tragic vehicle accident occurred for two disaster relief volunteers, who were serving our Lord in response to Michigan floods.  Bob Waldron did not survive the accident, and the other volunteer, Buford “Butch” Turley, was rushed to a hospital in very serious condition.

As we try to recover in the aftermath of this tempest, I am reminded that there are times in life when we need to trust in the character and promises of God.  I share these words to encourage all of us today:

• God is good every day!
• Our Lord is always faithful!
• Belonging to a community of faith, a local church family, makes a huge difference when trials come.
• The hope that we have in Jesus Christ cannot be robbed from us, even by death and tragedy.

I ask that you keep the family of Bob Waldron in your prayers, as they walk through the valley of grief; and continue to pray for Butch Turley and his family, as he seeks to recover from this tragic accident.

I also dare to speak a word of testimony on behalf of these two faithful servants of our Lord.  If Bob and Butch had known what they faced on this fateful day, would they have chosen differently?

I do not believe that they would have chosen to be in an accident, but I do believe that it would not have changed where this day found them.  I feel as if these two men would have still been obedient to God’s call of serving in disaster relief ministry.  These men were not ones to just talk about faith, but, instead, they were busy living out their faith.  They would have chosen to offer compassion to hurting people.  They would have elected to talk with a homeowner about a saving faith in Christ.  They would have wanted, by their faithfulness, to challenge some of us to get in the race…to rise up from where we sit…to step off the sidelines and to go for Christ’s sake.

The testimony of these two very fine men and faithful disaster relief volunteers declares:

Run the race!

Keep the faith!

Finish Strong!

“I have fought the good fight.  I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  There is reserved for me in the future the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that day, and not only me, but to all those who have loved His appearing.”  

( 2 Timothy 4:7-8)