40 years ago today, I stood on stage in a very large
auditorium wearing a black gown and an unusually flat hat with a tassel hanging
in my face waiting for my name to be called.
I walked to the center of the stage and shook hands with the president
of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
He smiled and handed me my Master’s Degree. I smiled back and walked off the stage with
the diploma that represented a theological education from the largest
protestant seminary in the world at that time. Who’da thunk it?
Academics were never a priority for me in my youth. I finished in the bottom third of my class in
high school and was dead last in my graduating class in college. That wild story will be explained on the 46th
anniversary of my college graduation next week.
I was primarily known as a quiet little guy who just wanted to have fun
rather than assume the responsibilities and realities of adult life. I got over being quiet but still hold fiercely
to the desire to have as much fun as possible.
However, when I finally figured out and followed God’s plan for my life I
learned that being a responsible adult and having fun can both be possible. In fact, there is nothing more fun than doing
what you were placed on this earth to do.
I learned many theological principals In seminary that still guide me
today. However, God taught me a couple
of truths that before and outside any classroom attendance.
First, God taught me that if I trusted Him with my life He
would take care of my needs. When I
finally realized that God was calling me into the ministry I was guided to
Southwestern by reliable friends who knew more about seminaries than me, meaning
about all I knew was how to spell the word seminary correctly. As I investigated I realized that the cost
could be an issue. My parents put me
through college, I couldn’t ask them to finance 3-4 years of graduate
school. I also had incurred a few
thousand dollars of debt since graduating from college. I bought a new car and I also had to buy a
suitable adult wardrobe for work. My
college attire consisted of Levis and multiple football jerseys. So I decided to go to seminary after working
a while to pay my debts and save some money.
I had a decent job with a company car and decent salary for a recent
college graduate. However, I was wisely
advised not to delay and follow God’s leading and trust Him to provide for what
He directed in my life. I swallowed hard,
prayed harder, quit my job and headed west to begin the greatest adventure in
my life.
Without going into details, after a year of paying school
and living expenses I was also debt free.
No, I did not pledge to a Televangelist and receive a large check in the
mail. I got a job working the graveyard shift
at a cabinet plant for minimum wage ($6 an hour then, which was a lesson in
spiritual humility for a college grad).
It was low wages but allowed me to work at night, go to class in the
mornings, study in the afternoon and grab a nap before going to back to work at
night. I was younger and more energetic
in those days. After my first year when I
received my W-2 form God showed me that if I followed Him I could also trust
Him to provide what I needed, even when I couldn’t figure out how. My earned wages amounted to about the same
amount of the debt that I had retired that same year. However, in addition to being able to retire
my debt, I had also paid for tuition, books, apartment rent, food and all other
living expenses. I studied accounting in
college and the math does not work but somehow God made it happen. From that time own I realized I could trust
Him to provide for my needs if I followed His direction for my life. For the rest of my career I never asked or
worried about salary. The only issue was
deciding whether or not this was where God was leading. I was never able to afford the yacht or the
villa in France for a summer home but He has done OK in providing for me and my
family over these years. Whenever I
would begin to worry about finances I would think back to that first year of
seminary and be reminded that He would provide if I followed and trusted Him.
When I began seminary I realized that although I had grown
up in church my knowledge of the Bible was still somewhat limited. A respected pastor once said, “The problem with most church members is
that the bump of Bible knowledge on
their heads is actually a dent”. I
had heard a lot of sermons and studied Sunday School lessons but had never read
the entire Bible. I was going to be teaching
and preaching the Bible so I needed to read it.
I set up a schedule to read it in a few weeks. It took more than an hour each day, in
addition to my classroom study requirements, but I discovered several things
that I had never heard in church as well as some things I had heard that were
taught incorrectly. I learned never
to trust anything without checking it out for yourself! That was an important lesson but it’s not the
second truth I want to share that I learned outside the classroom, so that one
is free!
In my adventure of Bible reading I learned that God could
guide my life far better than I can (DUH!)…again if I trusted my life and works
to Him. While reading Bible for the
first time in its entirety several new verses and truths were revealed, however
one seemed to express exactly what I needed at that time. It is funny how clearly God can speak through
His written word. When I read Proverbs
16:3, “Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established” it
seemed that God was telling me personally; “I
have an established plan for you that will be revealed as you commit your works
to me!’
We never really know what the future holds but I learned
that can trust God to provide and guide every step of the way as we commit our
life. As I move closer to the end of my
7th decade of life I am still amazed at what He has done in, with
and through the life of this quiet kid who just wanted to have fun. So, I learned a lot gaining my Masters of
Divinity degree but I also learned that no matter what our stage or vocation in
life may be, God will provide and guide as we commit our trust completely in Him!
