When I used to preach in Virginia, the drive from my house to the church building was beautiful. It was about 5 miles through a state park. In the winter, the snow would hang onto the tree limbs that outlined the road. In the fall, the changing of colors was stunning.

However, for a while, something ruined it. Someone accidentally ran over a skunk. I know it was an accident because no one would ever do such a crazy thing on purpose.

For a few days, when I drove down that beautiful road there would be a section of the drive that stunk. In a couple of weeks, it got a little better, but it still smelled. I have seen policemen pull over and remove the bodies of dead animals from the highways, but no one removed the dead skunk. 

It reminded me of several undeniable truths.

1. A mess is a mess, even when it is an accident.

Many people excuse every terrible thing they have done with “I didn’t mean to.” Children think that an apology is all it takes to make everything okay. I appreciate a real apology, but a stink is still a stink. 

2. Sometimes things happen in life that you can’t fix.

No one wanted to clean up the mess, so we just have to wait till it goes away on its own. David asked for forgiveness for his sin. God forgave him, but the sword never departed from his house. Jacob wrestled with an angel till the angel touched him on the hip and for the rest of his life, he limped. Even with forgiveness, there are often consequences.

3. The smell will eventually go away.

Right now it may seem like you will never get past your problem. Don’t be impatient, this too will pass. I love the fellow who was asked what his favorite Bible verse was and he quoted “it came to pass.” Whatever your hard spot is, it will pass. It always does. The phrase “it came to pass” is found 453 times in the KJV. This skunk too will pass.

Lonnie Davis

We all love happy endings.

Poets know this and so end their fairy tales with “and they lived happily ever after.” The great old cowboy movies often ended with the cowboy victoriously riding off into the purple sunset. Feel-good movies all have happy endings. We hear those happy endings, see those purple sunsets, and long for that in our life. The real secret of happiness is not in those purple sunsets, but in the chance to start over – to begin again.

• The prodigal son far from home, broke, and hungry, did the one thing he could. He went home. He started over. He began again.

• Hezekiah on his deathbed repents of his failures and starts over. God lets him begin again.

• Joseph sold into slavery, cast into prison, and forgotten by his friends, began again. It took two years, but instead of losing faith, he waited with patience. When his door to home was closed, he knew that some greater door would open (Gen 50:20).

In “The Land of Beginning Again,” L.F. Tarkington wrote,

I wish that there were some wonderful place
Called the Land of Beginning Again
Where all of our mistakes, and all of our heartaches,
And all of our poor, selfish grief
Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door
And never be put on again.

At some time or another in our life, we all long for that land of beginning again “where all our mistakes” can “be dropped like a shabby old coat.”

In the end of this life, what we are promised is a new start. John, gazing into heaven, wrote, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth” (Rev 21:1). Even eternity will be a chance to start over.

I love happy endings but a chance to start over is even better. Even death itself is just another start over.

Lonnie Davis

I got on the plane.
It was a Terrible seat! Sandwich seat! and No legroom!
 
The lady next to me was already opening her smelly food. “Sorry about the food,” she said. “It’s okay,” I responded. In a few minutes a man came up and said, “You are sitting in my seat.”
 
I checked my ticket. No, I was sitting in the right seat. I looked at his ticket. Sure enough, it was his seat too. I gave him the seat and told him I would find a different one. The flight attendant sprang into action. He walked me to the back of the plane.
 
I saw an empty seat on the exit row (I call them “economy first class”) “I can just sit here,” I told him. He would not let me. He took me off the plane, telling me I would have to wait to see what was available. I went all the way to the gate and watched them assign seats to others. Outside the snow was falling hard (eventually 12 inches). I was afraid I might be trapped at the airport. Finally, they gave me a ticket. I walked to my new seat. It was the exit row and the aisle seat. Wonderful! We pushed away from the gate at 1:30 and took off at 3:45 (de-icing). 
 
Sometimes life does not go as you planned. When you have little hiccups along the way it is easy to be frustrated and angry. It is better to decide that God’s hand is in the details. When Israel left Egypt and headed to the Promised Land, the Bible tells us: 
 
“When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, ‘If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.’ So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea.” – Exodus 13: 17 – 18, 
 
There was a quicker route, but God knew they needed to take the long way.  He gave them what was best and not what they might have wanted. God still works that way, even when the snow is falling and you are getting on a plane.
 
As we were sitting on the tarmac, the captain walked back and talked to our row and apologized for the long delay. I spoke up and said, “We’re okay. We are sitting here reading books and relaxing. We do not have to fret with small children. We’ll be okay.” He smiled and went to talk with others. As long as we keep God in our plans, God will work things out for the good. (Romans 8:28).
 
Lonnie Davis
 

Haircuts and Life

Haircuts are no big deal to me. I prefer to get them wherever I happen to be. I have two rules that keep me okay with this: (1) Don’t cut it too short. If I follow this rule a bad cut grows out quickly. (2) Blow the cut hairs out of my hair. If this rule is done then I do not have to go wash my hair immediately.

At haircut time I went to the closest place. The lady cutting my hair followed rule one okay. As she was winding up, I had to remind her about rule two. She picked up her hair dryer and started using it on my hair. Half through she got distracted and left the scalding wind blowing in one spot against the grain. It got hotter and hotter. Just before I could yelp, she moved it away.

Finally, she tried to comb my hair. I had one patch of hair that stuck straight up no matter what she did. You can guess that the unruly spot was exactly where she kept the hot wind blowing. Finally, she said, “Your hair has a mind of its own.” I did not respond.

I thanked her, paid the bill, and left a tip. I knew that eventually, my hair would be okay. Later I thought about that patch of unruly hair. The stress of the heat and force of the wind left it abnormal. I thought about how the heat and the winds of life do the same thing to us.

A storm of life beats on us and we get bent out of shape. The storm passes, but we stay damaged. Why not follow the rule of haircuts and apply them to life?

Lonnie Davis

It is not the years of your life, but the life in your years that matters. 

The story of Carrie C. White illustrates this. Carrie was a Florida resident who died in 1991 at the ripe old age of 116. Just think of all you could do with a life span of 116 years. Looking further into her story reveals that she was a resident of a Palatka, Florida nursing home at the time of her death. At 116 it is not surprising that she lived in a nursing home. The sad thing is that she entered the nursing home 82 years before she died! I don’t think I will mind living in a nursing home from ages 110 to 116, but I do not want to live in a nursing home for the last 82 years of my life.

Once a group of young people was discussing old age when the age of 95 came up. One of them asked, “Who in the world would want to live to 95?” Someone else answered, “Well, I guess anyone who is 94.” After thinking about Carrie White, we can’t help but add, “Yes, but only if it really is living.” Just breathing is not living. Living means doing something with life.

A first-grade teacher was going through the grief of losing her mother. Children pick up on things and one of the students noticed that the teacher was not doing well. She came up to the teacher and asked what was wrong. When the teacher shared the loss with the child, the little girl answered, “Well, I hope you live until you die.” Maybe the little girl did not fully understand it, but she said something profound. Too many people do not live until they die.

10,000 years from now, we will all be living somewhere. 100,000 years from now all of this will be a distant memory for us, but we will not be just a memory. A million years from now. We will all be alive. Nothing should happen here to make us lose the will to live the plan that God has for us.

It is not the number of years you live while here that matter. It is the kind of life you live. A million years from now the life you live then will be a reflection of the life you live now. Life here is just a preparation for the life that is to come.

Lonnie Davis

Mia Stole my Grapes

More than 70 years ago, Mia stole my grapes. 

It happened this way. When I was six and my brother was four, our mother gave us some grapes. He ate his, but I saved mine for later. While I was busy with something else Mia, the little girl next door, slipped into our house and stole and ate my grapes. It crushed me. As a child I was upset.

You know what? I’m over it. You are thinking that since it was a lifetime ago I ought to be over it and you are right. One would think that all such old sins and grievances are over, but sometimes they are not. The world is filled with people who nurse old wounds.

How long should it take to get over old offenses? How long does it take to forgive? A day? A week? A year? A lifetime?

Jesus answered the question for us when he said, “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” (Mark 11:25). 

When do we forgive? Jesus said to forgive when you pray. Most people think to ask for forgiveness when they pray, but Jesus said to give forgiveness when you pay. Your willingness to forgive when you pray impacts the forgiveness you will receive when you pray.

Jesus said, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:14-15)

When wronged you must not let it define you. To burden yourself with old hurts is to let old hurts define you. It is a handicap in your life. It is a limp when you walk. 

So let’s leave with this question, “Who stole your grapes?”

Lonnie Davis

In Abraham’s day, a woman with no child had no standing and a man without a son had no legacy. Year after year, Abraham’s wife, Sarah prayed for a child. Year after year her heart was broken. She knew her husband wanted a son and wanted to give him a son, but God had not yet blessed her. Finally, she reached the age when having a child was no longer humanly possible. In such times it is easy for dreams to die.

In the midst of such broken dreams, God reached out to Abraham and Sarah. The Scriptures tell us, “By faith Abraham, even though he was past age — and Sarah herself was barren — was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.” (Hebrews 11:11).

“Even though he was past age,” is an understatement. When their child was born, Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90. If nothing else, one can read that story and realize that nothing is impossible for God. Your dreams are never too big for God.

I do not want to wander as Abraham did with no place to call my own. I do not want to live in tents and ride on camels, but like Abraham, I do want to be God’s friend and receive blessings that are seemingly beyond human possibility. To do this, I must have Abraham’s secret.

What was Abraham’s secret? Read the passage again and you will see. “He considered him faithful who made the promise.” Abraham believed in God and that God was faithful and would keep His promise.

Only when we believe that God is faithful and will keep his promises will we look past the blessings of the earth and see the blessings of heaven.

All the promises that God has made to you in His Word, He will keep. God is faithful. Believe it!

Lonnie Davis

The Frog Who Went to Be with Jesus

When my granddaughter, Gwen was 5 years old, she loved animals. Somewhere she acquired a tiny frog. I guess she did not know that frogs were a plague, but that would not matter to a four-year-old girl. Even if it is a frog, it was still a pet. Little frogs in the possession of little girls do not have a long life span. Before long the frog died and her dad disposed of it. Her mother explained it to her by saying that the frog went to be with Jesus.  She cried and said, “I want Jesus to give me my frog back.”

We all understand that sentiment, not about a frog, but about someone we love who has gone to be with Jesus. The years of 2021-2022 have brought me too many “gone to be with Jesus” moments. We all have lost someone that makes us feel this way.

In the early church, these kinds of thoughts were hurting many in Thessalonica. They grieved for those who had died, or as Paul said, have “fallen asleep.” To encourage them he wrote, “Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.” (1 Thess 4:13-14).

When frogs are gone, they are gone. When Christians “fall asleep” they will wake up. We are not really dead; we have simply gone to be with Jesus. Do not grieve like others who have no hope.

Lonnie Davis

The School in the Forest

 Once there was a man who wanted to help the animals in the forest. He wanted to make things better for them so he decided to start a school in the forest. In his school he had a squirrel, a fish, and a bird. To make their lives better he decided to help each of them become better at what they did not do well. Since the squirrel could climb, but could not swim, he decided to teach the squirrel to swim. The fish could swim, but could not fly so he worked at teaching the fish to fly. The bird could fly, but could not swim so the bird was enrolled in a swimming course.

 Over the next year, the squirrel practiced swimming, the fish worked at flying, and the bird tried hard to swim. At the end of the year, the teacher had a squirrel that was a bad swimmer, a fish that could not fly, and a bird that nearly drowned daily.

 There is a moral to this story. If you are a squirrel, climb. If you are a fish, swim. If you are a bird, fly. Do not try to be something you are not. God gave each of us special talents. Each of us should work to discover our own special talent. Then use it. That is your highest calling.

Lonnie Davis

(Source unknown)

 Once there was a man who wanted to help the animals in the forest. He wanted to make things better for them so he decided to start a school in the forest. In his school he had a squirrel, a fish, and a bird. To make their lives better he decided to help each of them become better at what they did not do well. Since the squirrel could climb, but could not swim, he decided to teach the squirrel to swim. The fish could swim, but could not fly so he worked at teaching the fish to fly. The bird could fly, but could not swim so the bird was enrolled in a swimming course.

 Over the next year, the squirrel practiced swimming, the fish worked at flying, and the bird tried hard to swim. At the end of the year, the teacher had a squirrel that was a bad swimmer, a fish that could not fly, and a bird that nearly drowned daily.

 There is a moral to this story. If you are a squirrel, climb. If you are a fish, swim. If you are a bird, fly. Do not try to be something you are not. God gave each of us special talents. Each of us should work to discover our own special talent. Then use it. That is your highest calling.

Lonnie Davis

Caterpillars Don’t Die

The story is told of a quite happy caterpillar who found that his life was
changing. He noticed that things weren’t like they used to be. Finally one
day he began to crawl out of his skin. He was quite surprised to see that
though he was changing, he was still okay.  Soon he found himself a beautiful butterfly.

He was no longer bound to the trails of the earth below but could fly on the winds above. He was no longer a caterpillar but was now a beautiful butterfly. He soared above, looking down on the old shell that was still down below. He thought how lucky he was to have made such a marvelous change.

As he looked below, he saw some of his old caterpillar friends, crawling
slowly across the old trails that he had crawled. They found his old shell
and began to weep. He tried to shout to them that all was well, that he was
even happier, but he did not seem to be able to reach them. From his lofty
position, he looked down on those he had left behind and watched as they
gathered around his old shell and wept.

He could not tell them that leaving the old shell behind was not the end,
it was just the beginning of the real beauty that God had in store for him.
He knew that someday, they would join him and understand that caterpillars don‘t die, they just become beautiful butterflies.

Anon

The story is told of a sole survivor of a shipwreck who washed up on a small, uninhabited island. Day after day he prayed for God to rescue him. Day after day he scanned the horizon for help. Day after day, he was left alone on the island.

Realizing he needed to make the best of a bad situation, he built a little hut of driftwood to protect himself from the elements. One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home and found his little hut in flames. It was not much, but it was all he had. Everything was lost. He was shocked with grief and filled with anger. “God, how could you do this to me!” he cried.

Early the next day he awakened to the sound of a ship approaching the island. It had come to rescue him. “How did you know I was here?” he asked. Their answer shocked him even more than the fire. “We saw your smoke signal,” they said.

Romans 8:28 says, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

For Believers, even the apparent hard spot is nothing more than a prelude to God’s answer to prayer. The Bible is filled with examples:

• If Joseph had not been sold into Egypt, the Israelites would never have been saved from famine.
• If Peter had caught all the fish he could handle before midnight, he would have cleaned his nets early and gone home without seeing Jesus in the morning.
• If Moses had not spent 40 years in the desert, he would never have known how much he needed God.

What has happened in your life that you see as a hard spot? Someday you will be able to look back on it and realize it too turned out to be just a smoke signal before God’s deliverance.

Lonnie Davis

Sometime ago Liz and I took the grandkids swimming at the health club. Our gym has a giant thirty-foot water slide for the kids. Grandparents are not allowed on it, at least that is my official position. Our little five-year-old granddaughter came over to me and said, “I want to go down the waterslide.” She took a breath and then added, “I wish I was used to it.”

Kids often make profound statements, and this was one of them. It is a profound truth that great opportunities often come with great anxiety.

But, If you will face your fears, they can bring great blessings.

Personally, there have been many things in my life that I wanted to do, that I needed to do, but that I was afraid to do. Sometimes doing the thing was forced upon me and after a while, I was no longer anxious about that previously fearful act. I just had to get used to it.

Everyone at first is afraid to speak in public, lead a prayer, or ride a bike, or drive into the water.

I have often enjoyed listening to others talk about the first time they ever taught or prayed in public. They can usually describe that event in great detail. They were all afraid.

 We must not let fear keep us from doing any number of things we want and need to do.

Winston Churchill said, “If I do that which I fear, fear will leave me.”

Remember the words of Paul to Timothy and to all of us, “Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” (2 Tim 1:6-7).

After our then-little five-year-old got used to the waterslide, she had a great time. The next time you have a daunting task before you, just smile and say, “I will get used to it.”

In the end, you will have a great blessing.

Lonnie Davis

At 14, her life seemed out of control. She was making bad grades, bad decisions, and bad friends. She was not uncooperative but certainly did not understand what was to be gained from counseling.

I asked her, “Have you ever seen a car driving down a Texas highway on a hot day in August with its windows rolled down?”

“Yes,” she answered.
“Why are the windows down?” I asked.
“The air conditioning is broken,” she answered.
“Why don’t they fix it?” I asked.
“They don’t have the money,” She answered.
There is one more question, “Why don’t they have money?”

Let me answer that question for the reader. Some have bad luck, but for the great majority that is not the real problem. The real problem is that we spend money on things we don’t need to impress people who don’t really care, then when an emergency arises, we are out of funds. That is a rule.

Life runs on rules. It is a rule that if you do not save for a rainy day, then when the rainy day comes you will suffer the consequences. That is the rule of saving for a rainy day (or a hot summer day in Texas).

Life has many more rules. The wise person will spend time learning the rules.

If they are wise, they will remember them.
If they are wise, they will write them down.
If they are wise, they will live by them.

Remember them or write them down, but you will live by them. Each of them is a life rule that brings success or failure.  You will keep repeating the failure until you learn the lesson.

Lonnie Davis

When I was 11, I lived close to a skating rink. I remember my amazement the first time I saw someone skating backward – BACKWARD! He must have been the best skater in the world, or at least I thought so.

I got my courage up and tried it for myself. I jumped up to aim backward. Plop! Down I went. Obviously, I was not talented enough to skate backward. Maybe it was a fluke, so I tried again. Again, I went down. I turned around and skated frontward as God intended. Over the years I saw a few others who could skate backward, but obviously God touches a few people with special talents. I was not one of them.

Many years later I stood near an ice-skating rink and saw my 11-year-old granddaughter leap into the air, spin two complete revolutions, and skate away. Amazing!

There is more to the story than met my eye. Upon further investigation I learned that young Gwen (the skater) spent one and a half years falling before she was able to do the double leap. At first she fell and fell and fell and fell. One day she finally hit the trick. Over the 18 months she had fallen hundreds of times before she mastered the skill.

It made me realize that I could have skated backward if I had been willing to fall and fall and fall. Instead I resigned myself to skating the ordinary way.

There is a great lesson for all of us – “Those who would succeed must first be willing to fail.”

Let me say that again, “Those who would succeed must first be willing to fail.” That is how you all learned to walk or cook or write or skate. Everything great is at first difficult.

There is a great life lesson in the adage, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

It marks the difference between ordinary and great.

Lonnie Davis

Not Yet

It was a special day. Jeremy hired a boat and guide to take us all fishing. At about 5:30 in the morning, he went to wake up 6-year-old Gage. He gently shook him and said, “Gage, are you ready for the best day of your life?”

With the quiet voice of a child, Gage answered, “Not yet.”

Don’t you wish all your days started with the question, “Are you ready for the best day of your life?” Those of us who have lived a few years know that is not how life works. There are fun days and hard days. There are not always great days.

However, so early in the morning, a six-year-old may not know what a great day is. On the off chance that you may not either, let me share just a couple of identifying marks of great days.

A great day is one where you may the day special. A great day is a decision. Occasionally you may stumble upon a great day, but most of the time you must decide to make it a great day. You must ask yourself what you can do to make the day great.

A great day is a day when you realize who gave you a day. Remember the words of the psalmist, “This is the day which the LORD has made; Let’s rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)

So, to have a great day: 1) Remember the Lord gave you this great day. Don’t give it back to Him wasted. 2) Plan something for this day. Make it something you will be glad you did.

When presented with the opportunity to have a great day, don’t say to yourself, “Not yet.”

Lonnie Davis

One of the great cautionary tales from the Bible is the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15). He messed up a lot of things in his life. But today I want you to think about the one thing he did right and it is something that many of us mess up.

Jesus tells us the story in Luke 15. We will start with the messed up Prodigal finally figuring out what he needs to do to make things right.

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying with hunger! I will get up and go to my father…He arose and came to his father.” (Luke 15:17-20).

Especially note that he decided that he needed to go back home and then he got up went home. In other words, he did what he knew to do…and he did it immediately. The Prodigal knew how to make a decision and then follow through on his decisions. He wasn’t suffering by indecision.

The philosopher, Jim Rohn said, “Indecision is the thief of opportunity.”

This is a lesson I need in my life. I’ll bet it is also something that you need. Once you know what needs to be done, in the words of Nike, “Just do it.”

Lonnie Davis

hey say that life is funny, but I’m here to tell you that sometimes it is only funny looking back.

I have many bad experiences buying things cheap at garage sales. Some folks call them yard sale or tag sales. You know that is. It is one of those events where people take junk they paid good money for and thought they could not live without but now they no longer want in their house. They put this special stuff into their yard and hope people will come and give them pennies on the dollar for it. This is all done under the premise of “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.”

Today having a compass in a car is common. In the 1970’s, it was a rarity. One day I stopped at garage and found that the people had just such a compass that would stick on the front window of the car.

It was only 50 cents so I grabbed it up, and hurried back to my little Volkswagen. It attached with a little rubber suction cup. I moistened the suction cup and stuck it on. It fell off immediately. I tried again. Another failure! Perhaps I wasn’t pressing hard enough.

With one more effort I licked the suction cup (ugh!) and stuck it on. This time I pressed harder. With a little more effort I cracked the window! I paid 50 cents for the privilege of breaking my window.

I guess that will teach me not to go to garage sales. (It didn’t.) Sometimes one man’s junk is another man’s junk too.

So here is the real question, what junk do you have in your life that you need to get rid of?  Then get rid of it. There really is such a thing as addition by subtraction.

Sometimes we need to follow these word from Isaiah, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.” – Isaiah 43:18

Lonnie Davis