Mountain View - More of Him By Tom Hovsepian
Writer Author Church On The Mountain
Christian Column
:
Christian Living
- Fiction No
Remember the movie The Hiding Place which tells the true story of Corrie Ten Boom and her family’s attempt to hide Jewish refugees from the Nazi occupiers of Holland during WWII. There’s a scene when Corrie is a little girl and asking her father about death. Her Dad’s explanation is a classic. He said, “Corrie, when we travel by the train, when is it that I give you your ticket?” Little Corrie answers, “Just before we are about to board the train Poppa.” He says, “That’s right Corrie and it is the same way with death, when the time comes, the Father will give you your ticket just before you are to board.”
The other day I was re-reading The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind by Bill Johnson. In it, Bill talks about his 8 month pursuit of God, and how he continually cried out, “More of You at any cost.” At the end of that time Bill has as dramatic encounter with God which changes his life. What struck me about this story was whether I could cry out like that for 8 months (or even 8 hours for that matter) proclaiming my willingness to pay any price for “more of Him.”
It made me sad to be honest and realize that I probably couldn’t. In my opinion there was no way I could tell God that I would be willing to pay with my health, my family, my comfort, my freedom, or most anything else to have more of Him. My mind couldn’t grasp it and so I wasn’t sure I could forfeit any one of those things.
As I reflected on this more I began an assessment of my life. Where has my pursuit of God taken me? Slowly I came to realize that my wife Kandi and I have actually paid a lot to have more of God. In fact, if someone had asked us to pay in advance some of the things we’ve given up in our pursuit of Him, I would probably have said, “No way!”
It was then I understood my life was like Corrie and her train ticket. My destination is definitely, “more of Him”, no doubt. Yet in getting there, most of the time I need the ticket of His grace handed to me just before I board. Otherwise I’ll FREAK at the prospect of what is required for the journey.
With tears in my eyes I think of the journey of my friends Danne and Daphne over the last few years; out of work… forced to move in with a friend…. truck repossessed….. and their daughter tragically dying after a botched surgery… But then, they finally moved to the Coachella Valley to work at The Father’s Heart Ranch (A group home for abused boys), and are now filled to the brim with God’s love and purposes for their lives. Their gifts and callings have bloomed into great beauty and importance.
Asked to pay the price of these things before hand, they absolutely would have said, “No way.” They were handed the tickets of God’s grace to those difficult destinations just when they needed it. And they continued to pursue more of God through it all!
Same is true for you. There is a hunger and thirst that resides in you that nothing else can fill. Most likely you are a lot like me….not sure you could sustain that pursuit for 8 hours, much less 8 months. All I know is that I need as much of God as I can get right now. I had to just assure myself of that fact, and be confident that when the time comes the ticket of His grace will be there. It makes it so much easier to sit back and enjoy the journey.
 Tom Hovsepian is a former pastor of Church on the Mountain who currently resides in Arkansas with his wife Kandi. Church on the Mountain meets at 9:30 Sunday mornings. Call for more information: 935-4272 or www.ChurchOnTheMountain.org
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About the Writer Author
State:
California
Country:
United States
Email:
Paulafriedrichsen@live.com
Website:
www.churchonthemountain.org
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