Family Vacations. The goodness of God.
Two topics that have no apparent connection. But God never intended for his children to compartmentalize him, roped off from their daily concerns. To take vacations without him.
Our loving father is attentive to our needs, and he loves to give us the desires of our hearts.
Today’s story – a needed rewrite from June 2022 – gives testimony to the goodness of God in three scenes.
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life
(Psalm 23:6 NLT)
Scene 1: Fall of 1999
For reasons I can’t recall, I was thinking about vacations. More specifically, about how the financial implications of pastoral ministry generally limited our vacations to two choices: drive two hours west to the coast to the family cabin at Mission Springs Conference Center near Santa Cruz, or six hours south to Los Angeles to be with Linda’s parents.
Both great. Both relaxing. Both easy on the wallet, as there was no lodging costs.
But on that day I thought about the East Coast. I wished we could take Sara and Ben – 16 and 13 at the time – to our nation’s capital and the historical bounty of the surrounding states.
Wouldn’t that be great? Yeah, but it was a fleeting fantasy; the cost of airlines and accommodations together made it impossible.
Please understand – I did not ask God on that day to provide an enriching East Coast experience. Candidly, I wasn’t praying. I didn’t get that far. I was just living with a longing.
Nor was I complaining about what we lacked. We loved our life, but simply didn’t have a deep pocket out of which we could pull our vacation money.
Scene 2 – Two Weeks Later
Dean Marcellana called me. A former music student at University of the Pacific in nearby Stockton, he had served for two years as our church pianist in the mid-1990’s. I hadn’t seen Dean since he left California to study at the Boston Conservatory of Music, so it was a surprise to hear his voice.
A greater surprise was to learn why he called. He asked me to officiate at his July 2000 wedding to Jennifer, and said his parents would cover the cost of a long weekend for the four of us: round-trip flights to Boston as well as our lodging.
Do I need to even tell you my answer? Quickly and enthusiastically we accepted their generous gift. Wow!
Scene 3 – late June 2000
My inner longing became our delightful reality. A wonderful wedding, enjoying Dean and Jennifer’s families, walking the Freedom Trail, and seeing a ballgame at Fenway Park – our time in Boston was incredible.
That led to a full week of exploration: New York City; a side trip to Cooperstown to see the Baseball Hall of Fame; Philadelphia; and the finale – a few days in Washington D.C.
Let’s reflect together on the goodness of God. I’ll pose a few questions, and close with a reminder.
How do good things happen?
I’m not saying that a) my lament b) sparked an idea in God that c) he planted into Dean and Jennifer’s wedding plans. God is much bigger than our need to play cosmic-connect-the-dots. I’ll never know the sequence or the progression. I don’t need to.
What I am saying – and continually marvel in – is that God is good, and in his inherent goodness he delights those who delight in him, who seek to walk with him daily. And our family was given a chance to enjoy the bounty, a good gift.
In this one instance from years ago, I can point to a specific gift to us from Dean’s family. I wonder how many blessings I have received without recognizing them as having come with a name-tag? – From The Good Shepherd with love.
How do you respond when good things happen?
Here are a few pointers:
Look up. Say thank you to God, from whom all blessings flow.
Look out. It’s not about you. God is not our personal supply chain. We thrive as individuals when our lives correspond with his design for us: we are to be distribution centers of his loving-kindness. Jesus warned about our desire to have more. The common reaction to having “an abundant harvest” is to build bigger barns (and today to rent storage units) to store all our possessions.
Read Luke 12:13-21 now. Not later.
Look around. See who you can bless in your bounty, thinking creatively about the biblical call to share with others and/or pay it forward. Listen to the cries of the needy around you, and respond like God does.
How do you respond to events or experiences which you file under the heading not good?
Here’s a novel thought, based upon the premise that trusting God is foundational, no matter what happens. Learn to sing.
Blessed be Your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name
And blessed be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be Your name
Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name.
It’s all about one thing – learning to live with and in reliance on our good God.
Don’t leave him back home while you’re on vacation. Take him with you and your fellow travelers, whether it’s in the car, on the flight or the cruise. Enjoy his presence. Lean on his wisdom, trust in his prescriptions, and be sure to love each other as he has loved you.
And most important of all, call upon him daily, and tell him what you need as well as what you’re hoping for.
But if you find yourself admitting that you’re living the dream, that’s it’s all good, and you have no needs … you’ve got a bigger problem than you realize.
If we don’t need God’s help for anything – except for that short-sighted and misguided obsession with our ultimate destination – we’ve effectively removed ourselves from his presence.
And that is a lonely and desolate place to be. May God help us wake up to our folly and come to our senses.
Benediction of Blessing
May you live with an increasing awareness of God’s presence in every facet of your life.
May you have eyes to see the goodness of God and his abounding delight in you.
May you run to him with your needs and your hopes.
Credits:
Blessed Be Your Name – song by Matt Redman and Beth Redman, 2002.
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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. TM
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