Whatever the Path...Worth It

Whatever the Path...Worth It Copyright Doug Blair, Waterloo ON, 2019 Makeover of a Man

I had come From dreams of service

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To an urgent tool belt life With a baby son and daughter And a treasured godly wife.

And the legal briefs Forgotten In a rush of Newfound Christ And persuasion Then to follow What the Book says Without price.

Yes the Lord had Changed my mainspring

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Changed my message Glad rescue.

And to share The rich Evangel Seemed the choicest Thing to do.

But the nuts and bolts Of hard work And the mere wage Of a trade And the caring For a family Meant the stalling

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Of dreams made.

Ones for preaching And for teaching Set aside or So it seemed.

Though men listened In the brief break To my joyful Needful dream.

Of a kindly workman’s Travels and his tending To sin’s loss.

Of His bleeding

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For the broken And His victory Through the Cross.

Baffled to Fight Better

Many in the Church have enjoyed the classic devotional ​"My Utmost for His Highest"​ by Oswald Chambers. But have they heard of the topical teaching texts from which the entries of the daily devotional were gleaned?

All of such written material is available thanks to the widow of Chambers,

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Gertrude, who sorted through shorthand notes taken from teaching sessions and sermon outlines. It was a lasting tribute to a dear husband who had contracted a fatal illness at age forty-three while serving among the troops in Egypt in 1917.

Two particular favourites of mine were ​"The Psychology of Redemption"​ and ​"Baffled to Fight Better". T ​ he former compared the stages in the development of the faith life of a believer to those in the life of the Lord. The latter was a teaching on the Book of Job. I remember well the impact which "Baffled" had upon me. It was a time of personal crisis back in Chatham around 1987. My sole-man law practice had collapsed. Banker said he could do no more. It was a calm, overcast winter day in March and I had gone off to a quiet spot in the country to pray and to get some direction in my dilemma. Almost a sense of morbidity had caused me to take a copy of Chambers' book on one of the greatest sufferers in all of recorded history, the patriarch Job. But that day I persevered through the entire volume , and heard words of encouragement from God, parked at a quiet spot by the icy Thames River.

At one point Chambers said the following:

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"The human problem is too big for a man to solve, but if he will fling himself unperplexed on God he will find Him to be the kind of Refuge Job is referring to. We know nothing about the Redemption or about forgiveness until we are enmeshed by the personal problem; then we begin to understand why we need to turn to God, and when we do turn to Him He becomes a Refuge and a Shelter and a complete Rest. Up to the present Job has had no refuge anywhere; now he craves for it. When a man receives the Holy Spirit, his problems are not altered, but he has a Refuge from which he can deal with them; before, he was out in the world being battered, now the centre of his life is at rest and he can begin, bit by bit, to get things uncovered and rightly related."

And elsewhere: "The still small voice is an appeal not to superstitious belief in God, but to the actuality of God to man. God disposes altogether of a relationship to Himself born of superstitious dread- 'No, stand like a man, and listen to facts as they are'. God counsels Job- 'Don't come to too hasty a conclusion, but gird up your loins like a man and wait. You have done right so far in that you would not have Me misrepresented, but you must recognize that

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there are facts you do not know, and wait for me to give the revelation of them on the ground of your moral obedience'."

In a nutshell, I learned some things about God and His sovereign keeping care. I got no specific answers to specific problems. Rather, a settled peace and "starch" for the journey. I knew that in His hands I would "fight better".

Through the Knothole

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From Psalm 27: 11 Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.

12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.

13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. This is one of those scriptures which stands as a milestone in my spiritual experience. I clung to it as I went through the knothole.

I was still practicing law and I had been sued by two clients and their bank for solicitor's negligence. A lot of money at stake. Allegations that I had not advised them adequately of the risks of certain financing arrangements in a plan for apartment developments. They met with initial success, but then setbacks and the one partner left the country. The remaining one sought legal counsel from the big city and I cooperated with meetings and

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extensive disclosure from my files. All seemed positive but then two months later I was being sued.

A defense lawyer was assigned to me by the Law Society. He could see from my materials that I had given the men adequate advice and warnings before and during the venture. Nevertheless the legal proceeding would have to play itself out for a time. For about eighteen months I held on to the hopes given me while my colleagues in the chatty legal community in that small town whispered about "poor Doug".

The day finally arrived for our pre-trial discovery examinations and Hilary, pregnant at the time, insisted upon accompanying me to Toronto for this ordeal. Little Lauren came as well. As we left home the phone was ringing, but I suggested that we ignore it and get moving. Hilary drove and I rested.

My attention was taken at a point by a little message magnet which my wife had stuck on the glove compartment. It displayed the final verse of Psalm 27. I pulled out my pocket Testament and looked it up. Imagine my surprise when the words appeared to describe my very condition and offer comfort!

Late finding a hotel. Late settling down for the night. The following morning Hilary planned to enjoy amenities at the hotel while I headed downtown. Big law firm. Prestigious reception area. I read my psalm over

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again twice. Somehow things were all going to work together for good. My Lawyer finally entered, his hand extended: "Doug, I'm awfully sorry. I tried to reach you by phone last night but apparently you had left. The other parties have settled with us. You are completely off the hook. No claim. No costs. No more involvement.

Congratulations."

Thank God. I tell you all of this to give glory to my Heavenly Father. I was just the little bird caught in the snare. Perhaps you are facing some dilemma. Cry out to Him. Take courage from His word. You also will be given "milestones".

Those Hills

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Finally here

​(Waterloo Region)

And flat-lands forgot Kent County corn And the sorry lot Of business failure And whispers hushed The lawyer’s pathway Now a pile of bills Won’t really miss it Early courtroom thrills There were some folks helped With my listening ear But enough now Boy

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Got a truck to clear Can’t believe the change And the hills long missed And the big sky kissed.

It’s adventure now With our little brood Neath the hand of God Smiling hope renewed​. (1987)

Thrashings (re-posted from June 2, 2013)

I had a unique experience at our factory the other day. Mid-morning, and I had entered our structural hardware room. Large bright windows covered the entire southern wall. Something was amiss. Thumpings. Flutterings. It

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was a cardinal who had had the misfortune of entering an open door.

Beautiful, brilliant red. A crystal clear song. My favourite bird. Seen and heard often in our steel yard, and in all kinds of weather.

Apparently he saw his only option for escape in the bright sunlight of the windows. Time and again he collided with the invisible barrier of the glass.

Initially I took the approach of trying to whisk the little fellow into a cardboard box. He shrieked and evaded my efforts. Again and again into the glass.

It was evident that he was tiring in his efforts, and this was probably a good thing.

Finally I grabbed a cloth shipping bag and enclosed the panting little prisoner with a tender right hand grasp. He dared not to move. His brilliant little eyes examined me without any apparent emotion. What would be next? Destruction or release?

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We were quickly out the back door. I saw a stack of wooden skids over to the right. I placed my friend upon the top boards. He sat there stunned for a few seconds. I shifted that skid slightly, and he was up and off. Back to his glorious perch under the sun in one of the trees at the edge of the yard.

What an interesting little parable on being lost, on exercising pointless self-help, on pointless fright, on encountering a Rescuer and doubting His motives, on realizing finally that He means only friendship and freedom; that He is kind and capable.

Psalm 27: 13 I​ would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

NKJV) I can only bless the willing.

I will not coerce my child; But will draw him, and will woo him By my Spirit, meek and mild.

I will have no puppet kingdom.

All shall be by love and choice.

Will each loved one take my offer...And eternally rejoice?

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