The Flog – The Fabry Log

After our Chris Fabry Live! program Tuesday, I wrote him an encouraging e-mail. The path he and Shirley are traveling now is a parallel track to what many people are facing. Our family moved to the desert and though it was unexpected, we see it as God moving in our lives. I think he is handling this next move with grace, being willing to adapt and change as God requires.

He wrote me back yesterday and I wanted to let you in on just a portion of what he said. I think it will encourage you whatever situation you find yourself in today.

He mentioned this was a difficult week for Shirley and him. They feel God is moving them in a new direction and toward a new endeavor, but the grief of leaving a ministry and friends and colleagues after 32 years is difficult.

You can believe that those who worked with him closely feel the same way. There will be a hole in those studios that can't be filled. Not that they won't move on and work diligently. Not that they won't help listeners and perhaps even see the work expanded, helping more people in the future. It just won't be the same.

Dr. Dobson wrote the following:

What I am saying is that we are of two minds about this event in our lives, one characterized by sadness and the other by settled peace. Jesus expressed that contradiction when He said, "In this world, ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world." How could those circumstances coexist in the minds of His disciples? I don’t know, but they did, and for us, they do. It is as if the Lord is saying, "Your hearts are about to be torn out of you, but it’s fine because I have a better plan for you and will go with you."

How can you have peace in the midst of turmoil? How can you not grow bitter and angry in a circumstance you don't understand, no matter how well the situation is handled? How do you put things in perspective when, as JCD's book has said, "God doesn't make sense?"

If you really believe there is a God who loves you and who is for your good, if you really believe he cared enough for you to die for you to give you new life, is it all that hard to believe that in a difficult circumstance he is there working things for your good as well? The truth is, he is every bit as present in the hard times. He is moving in Dr. Dobson's life. He is giving him an opportunity to grow even closer to Him than if this hadn't happened.

I'm praying for God to move in my life and yours as well. I'm praying we can see those stumbling blocks as potential stepping stones to know God more deeply and depend on him more fully. If we can do that well, God will receive the glory. Which is what all this is about anyway.