Tent Pegs

Are you a conference person? I’m not. I usually smile and pass when it comes to conferences and retreats. Ten or twelve years ago, however, I surprised myself and went.

Wow, was it worth it! One break out session, one concept changed my life!  Tent pegs—that’s what she talked about. Tent pegs. You know, those very functional, essential items that keep the tent from blowing away or falling down in the night. The Christian life has some crucial tent pegs as well. One of mine, at that time, was a poorly driven peg. Oh, if you’d asked me if I believed that God is good, I would have said “yes,” but in my heart I often doubted. I found myself sounding much like my sister Eve, who used to live in the Garden. When tragedy after tragedy assails our lives, how can God be good? But shh! Don’t say that out loud! The wretched weed of doubt sprang up from what I saw, and guess what—from my linear thinking.

That weekend, I decided I needed to drive that tent peg deep. From that day on, I would not doubt the goodness of God. If things looked bad, God was still very, very good. This is not to say that that peg hasn’t experienced fierce strain since then, but I don’t regret driving it deep. As time goes by, that peg goes deeper still, despite what may come.

 Do you hear it? It’s the sound of metal against metal. It’s a horrible sound echoing down through the centuries. As dreadful as it sounds and as terrifying as the scene appears, it’s a good sound. It’s the sound of rescue emanating from an event that seems to be anything but good. It’s the ringing sound of a hammer driving one, then two, three wicked pegs into human flesh, the flesh of the Redeemer of the world. If ever anything in the universe looked so adverse and yet so completely demonstrated the goodness of God, it was peg after peg being driven into the extremities of Christ for the sake of humanity. God was and is good all the time. All the time. Is this one of your tent pegs? If not, join me and drive it deep!