21
To Be Like Billy Graham
Jon Burgess22Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out.23At theLord’s command they encamped, and at theLord’s command they set out. They obeyed theLord’s order, in accordance with his command through Moses. Exodus 9:22-23
Moses led the way in following God's lead. Whether it was a cloud by day or a fire by night the people wouldn't move unless God moved. They were, as Peter wrote of the church in 1 Peter 2:11, "strangers and sojourners". This is not our home. This is not our destination. Nothing makes that more clear then having to get up every day wondering if it's time to pack everything up and move again? Is the cloud still here? Ok. We stay. Is the fire moving in the middle of the night? Ok. We don't know why. But we move. We don't want to get so comfortable that we wake up to be the only family that missed the move of God to a new location.
I woke up this morning to the news of Evangelist Billy Graham's Homecoming. The man who has preached Jesus to over 2 billion people,is now face-to-face with Jesus. Because of his faithfulness to follow the cloud and fire wherever God led him, thousands upon thousands will join him in Heaven. How can I have that same impact on my generation? How can I be a Joshua to this Moses, picking up where he left off? I must learn to follow God the way Billy Graham did. I must wake up every morning and even in the middle of the night to follow God through His Word and by His Spirit. Graham said recently, “World events are moving very rapidly now. I pick up the Bible in one hand, and I pick up the newspaper in the other. And I read almost the same words in the newspaper as I read in the Bible. It’s being fulfilled every day round about us.” That's how he lived his life. Led by Scripture and its application to our modern day situations. I began to tear up when I read this next quote of his, "One of the things I miss most is that I can no longer read, due to age-related macular degeneration. I get regular injections for this, and thankfully these seem to have arrested its progress, but it's still very difficult for me to read. That means it is hard for me to pick up my Bible and read it like I used to, and I miss that very much." I thought about his hunger for God's Word and the longing to read it with his own eyes. How many times do I, with 20-20 vision look at other things instead of His Word? Like the Israelites and Moses, if I want to be right where God is I must be ever vigilant to stay in His Word so I can follow His lead through the wilderness around me. I must remember, as Billy Graham once said, "My home is in Heaven. I'm just traveling through this world." This was a man that traveled with Jesus because he packed up everything and moved when God said move.
I pray for the Graham family today. That you would bring comfort to them at the loss of their patriarch. I pray that the mantle of evangelism would spread to me and this next generation of leaders. The fruit of his ministry is indescribable. My own mentor, Pastor Wayne Cordeiro, came to know You through his ministry. The simple obedience and courage to follow You no matter what has changed an entire generation. I pray that You would do that again through us. Give us a hunger for Your Word. Break our hearts for those who don't know You. Help us to always choose Your Cross over our own comfort. Let us never forget this earth is not our home and weare called to bring as many people home with us as possible.
