“I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity” (1 Chronicles 29:17a).*

The lake was formed in 1948 when the Caney Fork River was dammed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for flood control and electricity production, and it’s also a recreational jewel.  However, the area has been in danger for a few years, ever since it was discovered that the dam is a high risk for failure. You might say the dam has lost its integrity. It’s no longer sound, no longer whole. It is in danger of not being able to perform its purpose and in fact, in danger of being dangerous.

The reason that Center Hill Dam is in danger is because its foundation was not built correctly, based on what we know today about geology. The dam is leaking and eroding. (Side note: this is a very simplified assessment; I do not claim to be a dam expert.) I have a friend who has been hired to work on the dam.  When I asked him about his specific assignment, he said he was tasked with building a new dam behind the adjacent “saddle” dam so that when it gives way, there would be a backup dam ready to take its place. You see, the dam is not a single structure; it is a combination of integrated structures, each of which must operate at 100% to ensure optimum performance of the whole.

Nashville Rescue Mission (NRM) is a lot like Center Hill. In fact, the first sentence of the NRM Employee Handbook – Section 104 reads, “Everyone on staff at the Mission is responsible to uphold the Christian integrity of the Mission so that it may continue to carry on the task that God has assigned….”  NRM has a God-given mission to fulfil, and it is people like you and me who are called by God to deliver on that mission every day.  As humans, we are not perfect, and most of us have flaws in our foundations. However, we must make every effort to maintain our individual integrity, and we must work together to be integrated as a team so that we can be effective in fulfilling this calling. This means that when there are holes or gaps, they must be rebuilt appropriately.

I like this quote from the Precept Austin website (Kay Arthur): “Satan does not need to accomplish much to destroy integrity. Because integrity has to do with wholeness, even a small chink destroys it. Integrity is a true 24/7 concept. Consistently right choices create (or reveal) integrity. One evil choice creates a fault line of potential catastrophe.” (https://www.preceptaustin.org/Integrity_a_whole_heart

I will be writing more on this topic in the weeks to come because the Lord is leading me to believe that this is critically important for us. It is important because if we are not functioning at the best we can be individually and as a team, we are not obeying God’s commands regarding integrity, we are not serving to the highest levels, and we are in danger of actually being dangerous instead, just like Center Hill Dam if it should fail.

I’m going to be vacationing at Center Hill Lake in July again, and I’m counting on that dam to do its job. We have people coming to the Mission every day, and they are counting on us for something much more important: Hope for Today, Hope for Tomorrow, and Hope for Eternity.

My prayer for you this week is that you will earnestly seek integrity, that you will examine yourself and that you will obey God’s commands. As Paul wrote to the Philippians, I also commend to you to “Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night so I’ll have good cause to be proud of you on the day that Christ returns. You’ll be living proof that I didn’t go to all this work for nothing” (Philippians 2:14-16 The Message).

In Christ,

Judy

*This was David’s prayer for the people of Israel and for Solomon upon receiving the offerings intended for Solomon to use to build the temple. These words in 1 Chronicles 29 mark the end of David’s life and the beginning of Solomon’s reign, and are some of David’s last words.