No Favorites in the Kingdom, Part 4
Pastor Chuck Smith examines his own life—beginning even before his birth—and the events that shaped his destiny to be used by God to lead many to Christ. In this teaching in our series taken from his book, Why Grace Changes Everything, he describes some of the crossroads and incidents showing God’s guiding hand in his life.
Nothing Has Changed
Paul's story is dramatic, but don't imagine for a moment that this kind of divine preparation is unique to him or other New Testament saints. I can examine my own life, for example, and see that God separated me from my mother's womb for the work He had for me to do.
I look back and see momentous events that didn't seem so momentous at the time. Now I realize those incidents were the crossroads in my life that helped to shape and determine my destiny. Looking back, I can see the hand of God in each of those situations, although at times I didn't realize God's hand was anywhere nearby. I thought God had deserted me. But now I see how God was working in every difficult circumstance of my life to prepare me for the work He had ordained for me. It is an exciting thing to recall some of the decisions I made at critical moments and realize that God's hand was leading me all along.
We sing, “All the way my Savior leads me.” In hindsight, I can testify that God's hand was upon my life from the beginning. Sometimes God supernaturally intervened to protect me. He had a special work for me to do and He was fitting me for that work.
A few weeks before I was born, my cousin died of spinal meningitis. My sister also was infected with this terrible disease. One day she went into convulsions so severe that my family thought she was dead. My mother rushed out of our apartment and up the street to the parsonage of a local church, where she laid my sister's lifeless body on the carpet. The pastor and my mother began to pray that God would bring my sister back to life. Her eyes had rolled back, her jaw had set, and there was no apparent pulse.
When my dad returned home from the pool hall a while later, a nurse was waiting for him. “You had better go find your wife,” she said. “Your daughter is dying. She may even be dead by now.” My father raced up the street to the parsonage to beat up the minister and take my sister to the hospital. He thought it was ridiculous to pray when you needed a doctor. But when he entered the home and saw my sister's condition, he realized it was too late. He fell on his knees, broken before God.
The minister told my mother, “Now get your eyes off of your little girl. Just get your eyes upon Jesus and begin to look to the Lord.” My mother—pregnant with me—lifted her face to God and said, “Lord, if you will restore to me my daughter, I will commit my life to You. I will serve You in whatever capacity You want.” My sister was healed instantly. She began to cry, sat up, looking around, and wanted to go home. They took her home, completely healed.
A few weeks later I was born, and the doctor announced, “You have a baby boy.” My dad floated down the hall of the hospital shouting, “Praise the Lord, it's a boy!” At that time my mother prayed, “Thank you, Lord, for giving my daughter back to me. And the vow that I made to serve You, I will fulfill through my son.”
From my earliest days, my mother planted the Word of God in my heart. As I was swinging out in the yard, she would help me memorize Scripture verses. When I was 4 years old she taught me how to read using the Bible. I spelled out the words I couldn't pronounce. She would later recount times when I didn't know all the letters and would do my best to describe them. She laughed as she remembered how I would call a “V” a “tent upside down.” With patience and love, she nurtured and taught me the fear of God.
By the time I was 7 years old I could name all of the books of the Bible and spell them. At bedtime, I never heard fairy tales, only Bible stories. Rather than Goldilocks and the three bears, I grew up with David and Moses. My mother taught me that when God was with you, you didn't have to fear anything or anybody. No giant could stand against you when God is with you.
I can't remember a time when I didn't know and love God. I have no kind of conversion testimony. There was a time when I made my public profession of faith and was baptized, but it seems that from my mother's womb I was separated unto God and unto the Word of God.
As I grew older, I decided on a career as a neurosurgeon and began taking courses that would prepare me for that profession. Whenever I described my ambitions, my mother would just smile and encourage me. She never told me of the commitment she made for my life at the time of my birth.
During my teen years God changed my life at a summer camp where I made a commitment to the lordship of Jesus Christ. God impressed upon my heart that men had needs far greater than the physical. Ministering to physical needs provides temporary help, but ministering to spiritual needs helps people eternally. God called me to minister His healing to the spirit of man.
I thought my mom would be greatly disappointed when she learned her son was not going to be a doctor. I expected slumped shoulders and long faces when I announced to my family the change of direction for my life. But when I told my mother that I felt God calling me to the ministry and to Bible college, she just smiled and said, “That's fine, son.” It amazed me that she didn't cry or get upset.
I went to Bible college, received my training, married Kay, and together we began our ministry. A short while before my mother died, she told me the story of my sister's apparent death and her promise to God—which she vowed to keep through me. She was one of the most beautiful, godly persons I have ever known—a deeply spiritual woman and a tremendous example. I can now look back and see that even from my mother's womb I was separated unto God for the ministry He had in mind for me.
Did you know the same is true for you? If through faith you have placed your eternal destiny in the loving hands of Jesus Christ, you can be sure that God is at work shaping the events and circumstances of your life into a beautiful mosaic that will reveal His Son to the men and women around you. His hand is on you, as it has been since before you were born.
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In the next installment, Chuck reminds us that we are all called by grace and that we are also His workmanship.
Follow the series “No Favorites in the Kingdom” at Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
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