As I recently looked back on my life, I tried to pinpoint the turning point in my life. Though there is one key turning point, I can’t say there was just one but several. I want to think that I didn’t have it together, then I had a turning point, and then I arrived. That is not quite the case. Come with me as we look at the turning point that happened many times in my life.
Like the family game Twister, there comes a turning point. You know if the next color is “that color” it’s all over. So you are hoping for anything but that because you are at a turning point.
Crucial Turning Points in Life
There are many turning points in life. Many times this could happen as a kid living at home. But leaving school and home is probably one of the first major turning points in one’s life.
For me, I had two turning points when I was 18. Then four years later I had three more. Then two more 5 years later. As I think through this, I had at least six other major turning points.
First Major Turning Point
My first major turning point was Wednesday, April 2nd, 1980. It happened at approximately 9:00 pm EST. My life was forever eternally changed. That night, I confessed Jesus as Lord with my mouth and believed with my heart that God raised Him from the dead. See The Story – Once Upon A Time for more on this story.
Romans 10:9-10 NIV
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
That was the Spring Break of my senior year in high school in Vero Beach, Florida at a youth camp. Ha, and I went because of all the girls going. God had a higher priority obviously as this was definitely a key turning point in my life
A Jaded Life
One other major turning point, and many more (see below), happened after being jaded as a Christian for many years. My wife Carmen returned from her first mission trip with a raw heart. It broke my heart and turned my jaded, hard heart back to God. It was finally time to get back on track.
The Life-Line
I did a very challenging exercise a few years ago. It was drawing out my ‘Life-Line.‘ I thought through the highs and lows of my life and then graphed them in a timeline. Life is full of highs and lows. And my life confirmed that. Here’s a rough draft of my life-line:
I had many “Barnabas’s” in my life along the way. Thank you, God!
Acts 9:27 NIV
27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.
Why this verse for encouragement? Barnabas, whose name literally means “Son of Encouragement” took Saul to the disciples to have them bless Saul’s ministry. Now remember, this is the Saul in whom the disciples in Jerusalem were terrified. He had a reputation for zealotry and cruelty and like a bloodhound hunted down and persecuted followers of Jesus. Just think if Barnabas had never encouraged the apostles to bless Saul’s ministry. Many of the writings and ministry of the New Testament might be missing.
Effective leaders, like Barnabas, sustain hope by offering words of encouragement during the hardest, challenging, and darkest of times in another person’s or team’s life. I believe that when we do this, we are speaking words of life. After all, it is the word of God that is our hope.
His word is alive, active, and sharper than a two-edged sword.
Hebrews 4:12a
I believe that when we speak the word of God (encouragement) to others, it is alive. It brings life because that life is coming out of our mouths, our inner beings, affecting, encouraging, and bringing life when we speak it forth.
When I look at my life-line, whether it is the high points or the low points, I see the evidence of God all over my life. Check out Josh Baldwin’s song Evidence…
We are on a great adventure for sure. The evidence is clear. The encouragers are those who God purposely brings across our path.
Challenge of the Week
Take a look at your life-line. See the evidence of God all over your life. See it in the highs and in the lows. Who was that Barnabas in your life along the way? Who is someone who needs encouragement that you can be a Barnabas to this week? Whose life will you speak words of life into today? Maybe you need to speak it out in your own life. Speak it out! So be it!
Want more encouragement from Your Everyday Life? Then check out Encouragement from God’s Word.
If you would like a copy of the Life-Line Exercise, reply to this post below or email me at scott@youreverydaylife.org and I will send you a free copy.
