Lighthouse Keeper

The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)

Yesterday after church we had ice cream in the sun to celebrate the start of summer. 

It brought back a lot of memories for me of God’s faithfulness through the years. My first proper job out of university was as a grocery rep for Tip Top Ice Cream. I had 42 supermarkets to look after as an account manager and three merchandisers (the people who put the ice cream in the store freezers). I wasn’t a Christian but I was definitely in seeking mode and asking a lot of questions about what my life was about. I think I must have been about 22 years old. 

As I drove around my 42 supermarkets I had a Bible in my glove box. A black ASV Bible -I had no idea about versions at that point I just got it from a secondhand book store for $2.  On my lunch breaks I would eat Subway in my car and read the Bible (keep in mind–not a Christian!) and somehow I got a copy of Hillsong “Hope” album and started playing that as I drove around. God had me right where He wanted me. Alone. Seeking. Singing over me and ministering to me. Just like Gideon and his private altar in Judges 6.

One day, I remember sitting down in the back of a large Pak N Save carpark and it was pouring with rain. Experience taught me that you don’t want to go into a supermarket minus 25 degree celsius freezer soaking wet, so I was waiting for the shower to pass. I had just read John Burley’s book “7 Steps to Financial Freedom” and was stunned to find out that he was a Christian. I wanted to do what John Burley was doing (writing books, speaking, real estate investing) and I really looked up to people like him and Zig Ziglar (also a Christian). 

I was thinking “Why are all these people I’m learning from Christians? Go away, leave me alone God! I want to do that too but I don’t want to be a Christian!”

A still small voice then said to me “You won’t go anywhere without me”. 

I was in my blue Mitsubishi Galant ice cream company car with my Subway and my Bible and my Hillsong CD and God had me cornered. I said “OK, I’ll go with you”. 

I’m now 46 years old and still walking with the Lord. God knows the end of our stories and He is faithful to the end. I don’t know what lies ahead but I do know I was in church yesterday eating ice cream in the sun and for that I’m grateful.