Don’t Look Back

A guy from North Carolina who worked at Home Depot as a credit manager just got a new job: As lead singer of his all-time favorite band, Boston!

 

On his MySpace page he had posted several samples of him singing Boston songs karaoke style. When someone heard the songs and suggested he should send them to Boston’s management, he did, using an email address provided by the same person.

 

When Tom Scholz, one of the band’s founding members, heard the songs playing through his wife’s computer, he said he could’ve sworn it was Brad Delp, their original singer who passed away recently. Only when he turned the volume way up did he realize they were karaoke versions of their music.

 

He immediately got in touch with the guy and now the Home Depot manager will be managing lead vocals on Boston’s summer tour and on a new album with them in the fall.

 

Isn’t that an amazing story? It reminds me of what it says in Isaiah 43:18,19: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up...”

 

To quote one of Boston’s biggest hits, “Don’t Look Back.” You never know when a new level of Better Life will break for you.

Wait of the World

Do you ever get those food cravings that just stick with you? For me, lately I have been haunted by the thought of ice cream. So the other night after we had eaten an amazing manicotti dinner my wife made, she tackled the dishes while I drove to Baskin Robbins to score some mint chocolate chip and nutty coconut.

 

Evidently half the world was in need of a cold sugary fix too because when I got there, the line was out the door and wrapped around the building. The massive turn-out was because they were having an ice cream sale, selling scoops for .31 cents each.

 

You’ve heard the saying that good things come to those who wait? Well, I wasn’t willing to wait over an hour for ice cream, so I didn’t get the good things. Instead I dreamed of double scoops all night.

 

Something that IS worth the wait however, is waiting on God. Isaiah 40:31 says, “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount

up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

 

In that verse ‘wait’ means to have hopeful expectation. When we pray, we can be empowered with hope, fully expecting to (BE)TTER because God always answers us right on time.

 

Even though, to quote Tom Petty, “the waiting is the hardest part,” we can remain undaunted by what look like delays because God’s good things are worth the wait.

My Space

The other day I was telling a group of people about when, as teenagers, 5 friends and I piled into the two-seats of my 5-speed Pontiac Fiero and drove around town. Needless to say, we were crammed in there pretty tight. As the driver, I barely had enough space to shift gears or even turn the wheel to navigate.

 

At times that’s how it seems in certain parts in our lives: we feel cramped, confined and restricted, in desperate need of some elbow room. Thankfully, during our confinement we can have confidence knowing that God is tuned in to what we’re going through and will do something about it if we ask.

 

There’s a great example of that in Exodus 3:7,8: “You can be sure I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries for deliverance from their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. So I have come to rescue them from the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own good and spacious land.”

 

God sees us, hears us and knows how much we can handle. He sees when we have developed from being bitter into being better through dealing with that situation. Then, in the nick of time, He snatches us out and places us where we have more than enough room to move!

 

“HELP” is a prayer that is always answered.