Momentous transitions do not come often in life.

When one occurs, it’s like standing on a mountain bluff overlooking a sprawling valley below. The path behind reminds us of the adventures we had getting to this point. The beautiful vista ahead beckons us into grand, new adventures.

In such moments, it’s natural to pause...take a deep breath...reflect on where we’ve been...imagine what’s next...and give thanks for God’s grace in getting us here.

Right now, I find myself at such a mountaintop.

As you may have heard, on October 20, 2024, I delivered my last sermon as pastor of Stonebriar Community Church, a church Cynthia and I helped found in 1998. I retired from the pastorate, but I’m definitely not retiring from the ministry or my calling. Now, I’m very excited to focus my energy at Insight for Living (IFL). First, though, I am taking time to look back on our history and look up in praise to Jesus Christ who is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

As I do, two scenes of momentous transitions from two of my favourite heroes come to mind: Moses and Abraham Lincoln.

Approximately 1405 BC, Moses stood at the eastern overlook of the Jordan River. He had been shepherding his beloved Israelites for 40 years. They had just arrived at the edge of the Promised Land and they faced a momentous transition. Before embarking into Canaan, Moses stopped and took time to preach...an impulse I completely understand! He publicly reflected on the work of God and declared the will of God. Deuteronomy 8:1–4 summarizes his message:

Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors. Remember how the LORD your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. Yes, he humbled you...to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. For all these forty years your clothes didn’t wear out, and your feet didn’t blister or swell.... 

Moses lifted their thoughts above the task at hand to remind them of the great things God had done for them, which served as a foretaste of great things to come. Moses looked back...then Moses looked up.

He is your glory and He is your God, who has done these great and awesome things for you which your eyes have seen. (Deuteronomy 10:21 NASB2020)

I can picture Moses preaching God’s glory with all his might. What a man of fortitude and faith!

Next, I imagine a weary Abraham Lincoln sitting alone in the quiet, penning deep reflections at his desk.

It was 1863. He was leading the United States through our bloodiest years of existence. He called it “a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity.” Despite the violence and strife and chaos of that time, he chose to acknowledge God’s blessings shining like sunrays through the storm clouds of war.

Elevating his perspective above the turmoil, Lincoln looked back on the many bounties he and his beloved United States had enjoyed and counted them all as gracious gifts from the hand of God. On October 3, he issued the following proclamation:

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.

I just love that proclamation. If there were ever a time a sitting president of the United States had an excuse to neglect moments of reflection and prayer, and instead obsess on the trials at hand, surely it was during the Civil War. Yet, he stopped, looked up, and gave thanks. If the president could do it, then it was only fitting for the whole country to stop and do so as well.

Following their example, now is the perfect time for me to give thanks for God’s blessings of the past in anticipation of God’s adventures just ahead. He has graciously accomplished great and awesome things in and through IFL since 1979, and you have played an essential part. We give thanks for the ways God has used IFL in your life, and we want to express our appreciation for the ways you have blessed us—with your prayers, your notes of encouragement, and your financial support. Yes, we are immeasurably thankful for the gift of you!