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In Christ’s love,
Latest Post
- Highs and Lows and God in the Middle
I was looking through my pictures from 2025 and noticed a theme: there were highs and lows and God in the middle.
Sometimes I only see the highs. Sometimes only the lows. But when I look carefully, I can see God in the middle of them all.
And THAT makes all the difference.
For instance…
One of my highs was traveling to India to speak at some Bible college graduations. The students were so thankful that our team would come all the way from the US to see them graduate. I told them the story of the boy who walked a long way to gather some special shells from a remote beach. When he gave the shells as a gift, the recipient said, “They’re beautiful! But that was such a long walk.” The boy replied, “Long walk part of gift.”
Then on my last day in India, I got violently sick. I flew home sick, stayed home sick, and spent six weeks recovering from being sick. As I lay in my bed wondering if it was all worth it, I thought of what I had told those precious students: “Long walk part of gift.”
It gave me the perspective I needed on both the highs and the lows of that trip: God was in the middle of it all.
A second high last year was touring for six weeks with our Italian Puppet Opera in the U.S. and Canada. We performed for more than 1,500 people in 38 performances. It was exciting to share the message of Christ and the craft of Italian puppetry with audiences here in North America.
But two weeks before the tour, I was pulling out my hair. One of the producers who had committed to setting up more than a dozen shows for us had still only set up one. Two days before the team arrived from Italy, he had still only set up one. And two weeks after they arrived, he had still only set up one!
I felt like we were twiddling our thumbs! We had expanded the tour from two weeks to six weeks at his request to accommodate all the additional shows he wanted us to do. I called as many venues as I could think of to try to fill those days, but it was now so last minute that everyone, it seemed, said no. So I filled those weeks with shows at my farmhouse and shows at our small-town library.
The producer eventually came through by the end of our tour and booked us at several prestigious events. But my puppeteers said their favorite shows were the ones in our little town in the middle of the cornfields. It was then that I could see God was in the middle of it all.
A third high last year was getting an offer from some film producers to make a multi-million dollar movie of my St. Nicholas story, something I’ve wanted to do for 30 years. The talks progressed to the point where they sent me a contract and invited me to meet them for lunch and go over the details.
As I was flying to meet them, I was torn. Something felt off, but I wanted to follow it through. I knew they weren’t scammers; they were friends of a friend, and they had made a legitimate offer. But I just didn’t feel this was a good fit for our show.
I prayed for a clear answer… and I got it!
We had just started our appetizers when the conversation took a sharp turn south. In an instant, we ALL knew this wasn’t a good fit. One of the producers abruptly extended his hand, shook mine, and said, “The deal’s off. Enjoy your lunch.”
I hadn’t even touched my lunch. When they left, I asked the server to box it up, ordered a coffee, and sat in stunned silence, trying to calm myself down after what had just happened.
When the server brought my coffee, I pulled out my wallet to pay for it. She had seen our conversation. She just looked at me and said, “It’s on me, honey.”
I burst into tears. It was just one small act of kindness, but that meant so much. I remembered my prayer that God would give me a clear answer… and He did! Regardless of the highs or lows that I felt, I saw God was in the middle of it all.
Praise God! He can take our highs and lows and make level ground. And isn’t that what God said would happen in the days before His coming:
“Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for Him.
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.
And all people will see God’s salvation.”
(Luke 3:4-6, AMP)As we head into the new year, I pray God will make your paths straight, your rough ways smooth, and you would see God’s salvation… in the middle of it all.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love,
Eric Elder writes for page, stage & screen to glorify God’s name so Christ may be seen! Use this link to subscribe or unsubscribe.
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