I Know You Can’t Read It, So Let Me Tell You What This Card Says

The ink has almost completely faded from this somewhat-crumpled, yellowed, water-stained 3x5 card dated September 5, 1972. You can barely make out the important words I wanted to share with you on the card’s fiftieth anniversary. (I missed the actual date by a few weeks because of our unexpected decision to sell our Marietta, GA house several years earlier than we thought. The last month has been a whirlwind!)

The card reads:

Lord Jesus,

Anything

              Anytime

                              Anywhere

  I relinquish all control of my life to you.

And in the upper right-hand corner, I wrote:  “Baptized Sunday, September 12”

This was the fall of my senior year at Syracuse University. (I’ll save you from having to do the math. That makes me 71 years old.) Several of our church’s college students had responded to an invitation to be baptized on September 12, 1972. Initially, I didn’t plan to move forward because I felt I would just be doing it because it was the “thing to do.” However, on the Tuesday before the baptism service, I felt the Lord specifically tell me this was the time.

This card has followed me around the country for the last fifty years and was thumbtacked to a couple of different bulletin boards before finding a more permanent home on the inside lid of the box that holds my keys, coins, and other pocket-paraphernalia. It’s somewhat shocking to see what fifty years does to a formerly crisp, white 3x5 card and solid blue ink. I hope time hasn’t taken a similar toll on my body.

But it’s incredibly encouraging to see what God has done in my life during those same fifty years. I shudder to think where I would be had Jesus not singled me out from among my dysfunctional, emotionally abusive family members to transform me into a (more) stable, healthy person. Although I didn’t have any major self-destructive habits, I certainly had little idea of what loving, selfless living looks like. And I was not on track to find out.

I don’t want to imply that the last half century has been constant bliss characterized by rainbows and butterflies or that I have always instantly appreciated all God was doing in my life. Along with incredible blessings on many, many fronts – including marriage, children, health, ministry, friendships, career, and finances – I have also experienced periods of confusion and disappointment. He has done some things I still don’t understand or particularly like. But, he is God and I’m not, and he sometimes orchestrates things to put me off balance to help me see how I need to trust him in new ways. And for the record, my behavior over the last five decades hasn’t been exactly without question either.

In the end, I have learned what’s truly necessary is trusting God and accepting his will, even in those situations that may not seem to make total sense. Since what I REALLY deserve is condemnation because of my sin, how dare I think that God owes me anything, including justification for his actions? Absolutely everything good thing I have comes from his grace and love, and he has filled my life with great joy and even some miracles.

On this anniversary, I wanted to communicate to you that I have absolutely no regrets about having told God so many years ago that he can have it all. And, if you have never done this, I urge you to consider doing the same.