Randy's "Faith Story"
June 2008

Hi my name is Randy and I would like to share my testimony of God’s shepherding grace in my life.

My Father and Mother were dedicated followers of Christ and they taught me the things of the Lord almost from birth. I was saved at the age of seven and continued to grow in the Lord throughout my younger years. I grew up content and comfortable in my relationship with the Lord.

In 1984 I left our family business and started a new career with the company that I still work for today. I began in a management position that required long hours six days a week. I loved my work and in just a very short time I was made a partner. Being a partner brought on more responsibility and more hours.

Before I knew it, my job had totally consumed me. I continued to attend church once a week but there was no time or desire to get involved, my Bible sat on the dresser of my bedroom from Sunday to Sunday, and worst of all - I had become proud, arrogant and spiritually indifferent.

I continued on this path until April 11 of 2001 when I came to a turning point in my life. I was working late, totally alone in my office and I started to think about what my life had become, and how I longed to be restored into a relationship with the Lord like I had in my younger years. I had made many attempts to put things right in the past that had always ended in failure. I closed my office door, turned off the lights, sat in the darkness – and had an open and frank dialogue with the Lord. I told him that I was desperate to hear from Him, that my attempts to reach out to Him had ended in failure, and I was at the point of giving up hope of being restored into a right relationship with Him.

This time of quiet and solitude was the first time in many years I heard the voice of the Good Shepherd. The words of Jesus in Matthew 16:24-27 came to mind:
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? "

In the presence of the Lord, I began to see myself as God sees me - proud, full of self, in control of my life, and holding on to my possessions. I realized that in order to bring change I needed to surrender. I had to give back to the Lord everything that I had taken possession of - holding back nothing, including my will. I knelt before Him that night and emptied myself of all that I had once possessed.

What we have been learning over the past few weeks was true of me – The Good Shepherd bent down and picked me up into his arms and said: “now let me do the work of change in you”

The Lord began that day to change me from the inside out as I learned to recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd. He taught me the importance of spending time each day in a quiet place listening to his voice, reading His Word, and worshipping Him.

The year 2007 found me and my family going through our own valley. The Michigan economy had taken its toll on my company and with no work and with very little working capital left it was decided that after 24 years we would close down at the end of August.

It was a very stressful time. I found myself for the first time in my life having to write a resume and thinking through the implications of having to sell my house, find work (maybe in another state), perhaps commuting back and forth between home and work.

These recent messages on the Good Shepherd have been so true of my experiences. Brent reminded us that “The shepherd doesn’t exempt us from trouble but He will shepherd us through it”. This is exactly what He did for me. He gave me peace in a time of turmoil. The Shepherd quietly set a table for me in the presence of my fears and anxieties. He pursued me with His goodness and love and replaced my fears with peace. God’s goodness is real and practical.

My time spent alone with the Lord helps to keep me from complete darkness. In particular, it is during The Men’s Saturday Mornings of Prayer, when I spend extended time alone with God, is where I find great amounts of peace and rest from my thoughts.

I serve on the Men’s Ministry team here at Highland Park. As men, we understand how difficult it is for us to find places where we can spend uninterrupted time with the Lord. On the last Saturday of every month we come together to spend the morning with God. . It has been life changing for me – in fact the Men’s Morning of Prayer for February is this coming Saturday morning – beginning at 8am.

I would like to encourage you men to be a part of this along with me, and the other men who value this time with God.

During the third week of this past August, the Lord provided enough work to carry us through another year. I don’t know what 2008 will bring but I know when I rest in Him I will be able to face whatever is in my path because the Good Shepherd “leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake”.