Monday, April 14, 2008

A Tribute to "My Chaplain"

From: Terpstra, Gordon LTC MNSTC-I CHAPLAIN
Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2008 8:06:43 PM
To: DL MNSTC-I All Hands
Subject: Chaplain's Word of the Day

WHEN GOD POURS US OUT

An ancient Arab proverb says, "All sun makes a desert."

God knows that, too. He doesn't let us have all sunshine, for it could easily produce overwhelming barrenness in our lives.

When grapes were harvested in Scriptural times, they were crushed on a platform and the juice was collected in large vats. However, it had to be poured from one vat to another as the heavier particles of waste settled on the bottom. If it was not poured out regularly, it would become bitter and ruined.

People are like that, too. God speaks in the Scriptures of pouring out people to purify them. From time to time I've been poured out, too. I don't like those times because it's painful to be poured out. But it's very productive, and it's purifying.

I have been poured out in this deployment to Iraq. So have many of you. But the pouring out has changed us. Something deep and permanent has been formed within us...a growth in our soul, in our inner spirit, in the kind of person we are. And it's also very comforting to know that when the events of life cause us to be poured out, the cause is not some force or fate, but the loving hand of a Heavenly Father Who is seeking our growth and purification.

Being poured out does not mean God has abandoned you. It means that God is seeking your growth.

Thank you, Chaplain Terpstra for your service to our command over this past year. This post was yet another of his fine efforts- on the same day that he led a service for two more of our fallen soldiers.

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