Martin Wiles: One Chair’s Journey
Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.
~James 1:17 NLT
Some chairs are good for more than just sitting.
When I was a young lad, my maternal grandmother—who lived in Vance, South Carolina—purchased a living room suite from a local furniture store. The reason I remember it so well is because she placed it in her formal living room—the front room she called it—and told us not to sit on it. She reserved this for company, which she rarely had. The suite contained a couch, two chairs, a coffee table, and two end tables.
After my grandmother died, Mom and her sister divided the living room suite. Mom took the couch and the chair, and my aunt got the tables. Mom didn’t like all-white furniture, so she had the couch and chairs recovered. When Dad retired, he and Mom moved into a smaller home that didn’t have room for my grandmother’s furniture. Mom offered it to my youngest brother, but he had no room for it, so she passed it along to me.
My wife and I kept my grandmother’s furniture for several years until we moved into a smaller place. We stored the couch and chairs for a time but eventually concluded we’d probably never live in a home large enough for them again. Reluctantly, I decided to sell the couch and matching chair, but kept one chair for sentimental reasons.
The chair now sits in various places in our small patio townhome (depending on what mood my wife is in), but we don’t use it as a formal piece of furniture any longer. Anyone who wants to, sits on it, and yes, things have been spilled on it, leaving stains we can’t remove. I’m sure if the chair could tell me about its journey, it would share things even I don’t know. One thing remains: I love it because of whom it belonged to. It came as a good gift from a loving grandmother and then a mother.
And God does not change His opinion toward us. He loved us before we’re born, and nothing will alter His love for us in the present or the future. He always works for our good—whether we see it—and He gives us His Spirit permanently to guide us along life’s journey.
The psalmist wrote, “You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever” (16:11 NLT).
So, remember, wherever your life journey takes you, God remains by your side.
Is it comforting, knowing God abides with you, no matter the difficulty?
Father God, thank You for walking beside me and guiding me along my life’s journey.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Genre: Non-fiction
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