Sunday Service 9:00 am

 

X Close Menu

On the Loom

“Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,” (2 Timothy 1:9)

 

Isn’t it amazing how God works out His plans for our lives? He takes countless circumstances, situations, and seemingly random happenings in our lives and weaves them into a perfect plan and purpose that He has for us. He does that all the time… even before we knew Him!

 

For many years, my family and I have vacationed on the island of Nantucket, 30 miles off the Massachusetts coast. Among the many shops and galleries is a place called Nantucket Looms that makes fine throws, blankets, tablecloths and all weaved items. You can see the weaver at work and how she feeds the antique machine thread by thread to form a beautiful, and expensive blanket or throw. The final result is beautiful and a compilation of so many individual threads that result in a finely crafted item. I can see that being a picture of how God does that in our lives. To bring us where He wants us to be, He weaves the threads of our life, year by year, even day by day, to fulfill His plans and purposes for our life… and sometimes in ways that can boggle our mind.

 

Before I became a Pastor, before I left my career that I had in the world, before we settled in PA… God was weaving a series of events that ultimately got me where He wanted me to be.

 

I was living by myself in Sea Bright, NJ, working as an administrator for a health care facility in Newark NJ, studying at Seton Hall University for my graduate degree, and playing in quite an amazing band showcasing on Broadway. Living by the ocean and living what I thought was a successful life still brought an uneasiness about my future. After Broadway, as the band was about to travel and become a full time endeavor with a very famous agent out of New York… that unsettling feeling gripped my heart. Should I leave everything and go, or stay and finish my graduate degree and keep working? I didn’t know the Lord at the time, but I sat on the beach and cried out for the Lord to direct my life. I decided to leave the band.

 

One night, a psychologist friend of mine, coerced me to go for a dinner at a local pub. (Again, keep in mind I have not yet accepted Christ as my Lord and savior.) While sitting there, a beautiful woman and her friend walked in and sat near us. We didn’t say any words the whole night but our eyes did a whole lot of talking! At the end of the night, as the girls were walking to their car, I could not let this one girl go without connecting with her. It was more than just a physical attraction… it was something that was about to change the trajectory of my life! As she reached for the car door, I stopped her, turned her around and said the most stupid thing I ever said, I said…”Just because the music is over doesn’t mean our relationship has to end,” And she said, “What relationship?” We ended up dating as that woman was to be my wife JoAnn.

 

That night was a major thread in the weaving of my life that led to marriage, accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, receiving a graduate degree, moving from NJ to PA, leaving my career, becoming a staff minister, knowing Pastor David Wilkerson as my pastor and eventually becoming a pastor! And here we are…

 

Today, trust that He is leading you. Surrender your life to Him today. Submit your life to His plans and purposes. Do not resist the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Let Him take you by the right hand as you follow Him to the life that He has planned for you. And when you can’t see or hear him… just keep holding that hand by faith. He will not let you go! “ For I know the plans that I have for you declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope, (Jeremiah 29:11)… “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

 

See you on the loom!