Always Faithful: A New Adventure
Hebrews 11:8
“By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.”
It was Steven Curtis Chapman who called the Christian life, “The Great Adventure” and what an appropriate description that is. To say “yes” to Christ is not simply to have our sins forgiven, not simply to have the Holy Spirit indwell us, and not simply to spend eternity in heaven. There is much more and part of that much more means that Christ now guides us to the great unknown. That is “The Great Adventure.” Abraham discovered this when he said “yes” to God and committed to a life of total follow-ship. God called Abraham to a new adventure. According to Hebrews 11:8, this new adventure would lead him to a place he didn’t even know.
And just as Abraham began a great adventure with God, so did my friend, Bryson McQuiston. Bryson is a dear friend whom I have known for over 30 years. We served together on a church staff in the Memphis area. When I think of Bryson, I think of a man who has seen and experienced the faithfulness of God.
Bryson began his working life in the field of banking but soon sensed that God had other plans. Through the preaching ministry of Adrian Rogers and the counsel of a trusted friend, Bryson took a step of faith; he left banking where he had been for several years and entered seminary. God continued to work in his heart revealing in him a special love for senior adults. Then God did something amazing. He combined Bryson’s business experience in banking with his love for senior adults and placed Bryson in Nursing Home Administration. Wow, Bryson was seeing a close-up look into the faithfulness of God. But this was only the beginning.
From there God would show His faithfulness once again by asking Bryson to take another step of faith. He would call Bryson into church ministry, leading him to serve as the Minister of Senior Adults. Bryson deeply loved those seniors. He served them, cared for them, and faithfully ministered to them. He was there for them as they aged, when they faced health changes, and when they were facing death. He eventually became one of the administrators of the church, overseeing the entire shepherding ministry. Yet he never lost his love for seniors. For over ten years Bryson served the people of that church passionately. From a human viewpoint, Bryson was set. He could have stayed and faithfully ministered to that church family. But God had other plans to broaden his ministry in a way he could hardly imagine.
Bryson began to sense the Holy Spirit making another change. This change would mean walking away from a regular paycheck, walking away from work security, and walking away from the familiar. He would venture out on a journey not knowing where God would take him. Bryson would continue to minister to aging families but in a much different way. Before I give you the specifics let me also tell you that God’s call on Bryson’s life would also come during one of the most financially challenging times in his life. It would come in the middle of the housing crash of 2008. Do you remember those times? They were difficult for everyone. Yet Bryson stepped forward and said “yes” to God.
Before long, Bryson, his wife Linda, and their two teenage children moved from Memphis to Jackson TN where he purchased a home care business serving seniors and their families in the West Tennessee area. God would continue the ministry call on his life to senior adults but would do so with a much broader reach. But his new assignment would require faith. It was a financial challenge, a family challenge, a business challenge, but more importantly. a faith challenge. God was testing Bryson’s faith and Bryson was seeing God’s faithfulness. During this financially volatile time, Bryson described it this way,
“this new opportunity of adventure felt very lonely and taxing. The economy experienced its own catastrophe that same year, which made the financial burden even harder than a normal business start-up. Going from receiving payroll on church staff to meeting payroll in business was a huge adjustment and burden. Depending on family and friends to get us through financially was a humbling experience. Had we risked it all only to lose it all? In survival mode, the weight began taking a toll on my emotional health. There was doubt, confusion, fear, despair, anger, and depression. Linda carried much of the weight of the business during this time.”
Just because we are following the will of God it doesn’t mean life will be easy. Yet Bryson was going, wherever God would lead - the adventure. During this time of testing and trying, two quotes grounded Bryson and gave him wind in his sails. These come from the May 30th devotion in My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers.
“If a person is ever going to do anything worthwhile, there will be times when he must risk everything by his leap in the dark.” And “Trust completely in God, and when He brings you to a new opportunity of adventure, offering it to you, see that you take it.”
Before too long the new business doubled and today it continues to expand! It is not just the business that has expanded, but the ministry has expanded to countless others. Bryson is now 16 years on the other side of that leap of faith. There were periods of doubt and discouragement but God was growing Bryson personally each step along the way. Bryson was experiencing the faithfulness of God! Bryson characterized these years as “soul-crushing” and during those times, Psalm 34:18 was an anchor to his faith,
“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
One of Bryson’s favorite songs is In Christ Alone. Be encouraged by these words.
In Christ alone, my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand…