Way Over My Head

And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ. 9 My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along. Gal 3:8-9 (MSG)

Like Paul, I know I am in way over my head. But I also know that God loves me and has chosen me to do this work of telling His story. So I watch and listen.

I was rearranging my office thursday and picked up a wooden plaque dated 1981. On it rested a hand print of one Adam Wilson, my first born son. It was so small. The writing on the plaque was some of that sentimental stuff about looking back at kids when they grow up. Uh yeah. Wouldn't want to do that. I'd be one of those saps, huh.

When Adam came into this world, I had no clue what being his daddy would mean. I wasn't just in over my head, I was clueless. All I could do is look at him and wonder what in the world am I supposed to do now?

I thought back to a baby lying in a yellow inflatable "tub" so we could bathe him. To a little boy who followed his daddy around. To a young man who I played basketball with. Then I thought about times when we worried over him - when he was sick, when those first days of school came, when we left to come down here and he didn't come with us. There were times of great joy - he was an awesome boy, and there have been times of sadness. Yet he has grown up and is a man anyone would be proud to call his son.

Yes, looking at that hand print made me think of God's grace - His love, and His mercy.

For through it all, even before Adam was born, God knew him, and He knew Bunny and me. We'll never know the extent of how God blessed us with His providential care. A lot of things could have gone wrong. An awful lot of things went right. In that boy, now a man, I got to watch God's work and have a part in it.

"And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ."

Well, sometimes they aren't over your head. I've got a hand print on a plaque to prove it.