All I Want Series

Laurel Hunsinger, who grew up in Little River, Kansas, flew combat missions in the Korean War. On April 1, 1953, his plane was shot down 15 miles inside North Korea. He was severely injured, but he and his entire crew survived and were rescued, for which Hunsinger received a Purple Heart. He passed away last year (January 6, 2018) and is buried at the Bean Cemetery in Little River.

Before he died, Hunsinger told friends and family that when he worked on the flight line in Korea and flew combat missions, there was a post set in the ground that everyone had to walk past. Someone had carved into the post these words: “You always have two chances.”

When Hunsinger asked what that meant, he was told that when you fly a combat mission, you have two chances: You'll make it back to the base or you'll be shot down. If you are shot down, you have two chances: You'll survive the crash or you won't. If you survive the crash, you have two chances: You'll evade the enemy or you'll be captured. If you are captured, you have two chances: You'll live through being a prisoner or you won't. If you die as a prisoner, well, you still have two chances. (Hunsinger, “Musings of a Small Town Boy,” unpublished Hunsinger Family book, p. 103; submitted by Ted Weis, Little River, Kansas; www.PreachingToday.com)

Sometimes, life seems like a series of random events. However, for the believer, nothing is left to chance! Our Sovereign Lord works everything together for good, and even death is not left to chance. For the believer, death becomes the sure and certain entrance into the very presence of Jesus Christ Himself.

In the meantime, though, how do you handle it when life doesn’t go in the direction you want it to go? How do you survive, and even thrive, when life takes a turn you do not expect? How do you learn to enjoy life when the so-called wrong “chance” presents itself and you feel cursed?

Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Joshua 13, Joshua 13, where we see what happens to one of the cursed tribes in Israel, the tribe of Levi. As the land is being divided among all the other tribes of Israel, look at what Levi gets.

Joshua 13:14 To the tribe of Levi alone Moses gave no inheritance. (ESV)

They don’t receive any land in the Promised Land, because Jacob cursed his son, Levi and Levi’s descendants, more than 400 years previously. On his death bed, Jacob recalls the way Levi and his brother, Simeon, in an act of violent rage, killed all the men of Shechem, because one of those men had raped their sister. Levi’s anger is understandable, but what he did with that anger was unforgiveable – slaughtering an entire city of men. So Jacob declared that Levi and his descendants would have no inheritance whatsoever. He declared that they would be scattered throughout all the land of Israel (Genesis 49:5-7).

Now, the tribe of Levi had lived under that curse for more than 400 years, but look at what happens when they finally get to the Promised Land. You’re in Joshua 13, look at verse 33.

Joshua 13:33 But to the tribe of Levi Moses gave no inheritance; the Lord God of Israel is their inheritance, just as he said to them. (ESV)

The tribe of Levi gets no land, but they get the Lord! Unlike any other tribe, they get to minister in the presence of the Shekinah Glory, i.e., in the presence of the Lord Himself in the tabernacle. God had turned their curse into a blessing, and that’s what He does for everyone who depends on Him! So when you feel cursed…

APPRECIATE YOUR BLESSINGS.

Be grateful for what you DO have. Don’t grumble about what you DON’T have. Be thankful for what God gives you, because in any and every situation God gives you Himself.

The Bible says, “Be content with what you have, for [God] has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not fear…’” (Hebrews 13:5-6).

Kara Tippetts, an author, mother of four, and a pastor’s wife, went home to be with the Lord on March 22, 2015, after a long battle with breast cancer. As the cancer spread, Kara courageously embraced her situation, trusting in a Sovereign God. She believed that cancer was not the point, but Jesus was. As Kara and her family processed what God was calling them to live out, she invited her family and friends to join her journey through this seemingly impossible ordeal.

In the fall of 2014, David C. Cook published her story, The Hardest Peace. She refused to be defined by cancer and considered every moment a gift and an opportunity to learn more about grace and trusting God; she believed suffering was not an absence of beauty, but an opportunity to understand God's love on a deeper level. Near the end of her life Kara wrote: