Day 14: CODE WORD: “UP”

It’s sometimes hard for me to get my head around the fact that Jesus, the Son of the Almighty God of the universe, ever felt “forsaken”.  Yet in Matthew 27:46, while He was hanging on that cross in my place, that’s exactly what it says. As He bore the sins of the entire world, God the Father could not even look at Him, and thus Jesus felt all alone and forsaken.  

Webster defines “up” as:  “in or into a higher position or level.”  Although I was saved at the ripe old age of 7, in a storefront church in Wilmington, NC, on a very hot July night in 1955, over the years, somewhere between college and the US Army, I had become so busy with my life and work, that I no longer put God on the top shelf.  He was still there, but in the background.

Sometimes, like the farmer who hit his mule over the head with a 2 x 4 to “get his attention”, God has to put us on our knees so that we have nowhere to look but “up”.  It was then that the Lord took His own 2×4 and hit me over the head with it and put me in the ICU at Womack Army Hospital at Ft. Bragg, NC.  I really must have looked good, because as soon as my mom walked in, she took one look at me and promptly passed out.  As I remember, I was in ICU for almost a week, and was finally forced to slow down, think, and reassess my priorities.  I realized that while I might have forgotten about Jesus, for some incredible reason that I may never understand, He had never forgotten about me.  That’s when I began to look up again.  I recommitted my life to Him, and put Him back on the top shelf where He belonged.  I became much more involved in my church, in missions, jail ministries, and formed a quartet that He has blessed to sing coast to coast, singing His praises and spreading the gospel through song.  I can never make up for the years I wasted, not truly serving my Savior, but with His help, He is now truly not just my Savior, but Friend, and Lord of my life. Keep looking Up!

Deacon Roger Wendell