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It should be a great encouragement to our hearts to know that God is
available to us when we call upon Him. There is never a busy signal or a
“wait on hold” message. We can come confidently to the throne of God
bringing our requests and needs before Him knowing that God is pleased with
us when we show our faith and steadfast belief that He can hear and will
answer our heartfelt prayers. The Bible declares in Isaiah 59:1 “Behold,
the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear
heavy, that it cannot hear.” No matter what may come before you in life,
remember that God loves you and wishes to meet your needs. Do not become
overwhelmed and contemplate quitting, but rather dig your heels in, stand
strong and ask God to give you the strength you need to meet and overcome
every obstacle that is in your path. The Bible says in 1 John 5:14-15
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything
according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us
whatever we ask we know that we have what we asked of Him.” (Hebrews 4:16)
I hope this message encourages your heart to call upon the Lord in
confidence knowing that He will hear and answer your hearts cry.
THE HURRICANE
Twin fountains of muddy water splashed into the air as the car left the
road and plunged into what was left of a farmer's field. The two men inside
were violently thrown inside the car. Luckily both were wearing shoulder
harnesses so their injuries were slight. But both discovered that a few
bumps and bruises were the least of their worries at the moment. Slowly and
steadily the automobile was sinking into the water and mire. They would
either have to swim or drown.
The men struggled out of their harnesses as water gushed in around the
doors. A strong current was against them at first and the door wouldn't
budge. Finally with a mighty heave, fueled by overwhelming panic, they got
one of the doors open and splashed their way out of the sinking vehicle.
It was pitch dark. The water was freezing cold. Violent winds lashed a
curtain of rain into cutting sheets of icy water. The storm had been going
on now for the better part of a day.
The men had been on a business trip when the first Hurricane Watch was
issued. Their first thought was to come home and care for their families.
But this was an important meeting -- not one to be missed by a young man on
the fast track to success. So they had waited until almost the last minute
-- until the storm was almost upon them. By the time they were only a few
miles from home, the storm was bellowing with 90-mile-per-hour winds. They
had almost made it, but the road had suddenly disappeared beneath their
automobile. Now they found themselves neck deep in a raging torrent from
which there seemed no escape.
“Bill,” the first man yelled into the howling wind. “Where are you?”
A streak of lightning shot through the sky. A clap of thunder rolled
through the soggy heavens.
“Bill!” the first man cried again. “Answer me.”
“I'm over here, Jack,” came a faint reply. “Over here!”
Jack squinted his eyes, trying to peer through the rain but he could see nothing.
“Are you okay?” Jack shouted into the wind.
“Yeah,” was the faint reply. “But we're gonna drown if we don't get out of
here. This current is murder.”
Another bolt of lightning, then a tremendous clap of thunder. For a moment
Jack thought he saw Bill struggling in the water. “Over here!” Jack shouted.
“I can't see you,” Bill answered. “All this water and mud is in my eyes. I
can't see anything.”
“Follow the sound of my voice,” Jack bellowed over the storm. “I'm over here.”
Then Jack began to pray. “O Lord, I haven't been a very good Christian and
I'm a terrible sinner, but please help us before we drown. Our families
need us. Please, Lord. Help me find Bill and get us out of this mess. Amen.”
Suddenly Jack felt someone grab his hand and start pulling. “Wait a minute,
Bill. Where are you going?”
“I don't know,” he heard a voice reply. “I can't tell one direction from
the other. But I'm heading somewhere. Hold on tight.”
Jack felt his friend pull him again. Oh, well, he figured, one way is as
good as another. Jack started moving forward. The wind-lashed rain stung
his face and grimy water dripped into his eyes. He was moving blind.
The soft earth of the field was now deep mud. It sucked at his feet and
pulled at his legs. He lost his shoes in the sticky slime. His suit was
water-drenched and heavy. If the water got over his head, he knew that he
would surely sink to the bottom.
But what was this? Was the water getting shallower? Now it was only to his
waist -- now to his knees. Then to his ankles. He felt the hand let go as
he stumbled onto firm ground. Jack promptly looked for Bill, but he was not
there. He squinted again into the storm and saw his friend stagger up a
little bank onto a grassy knoll, about 150 feet to his right. The current
was still strong. He must have been swept downstream at the last minute,
just as Jack had reached high ground. Thank God he had made his way to shore.
Jack struggled to his feet, uttered a silent “Thank you, Lord,” and made
his way down the grassy bank to the spot where Bill was kneeling and
coughing up muddy water from his lungs. There was another brilliant flash
of lightning and a deafening clap of thunder. “Are you all right, Bill,”
Jack asked anxiously as he put his arm over his friend's back.
“Yeah, I think so,” Bill sputtered. Then Bill sat down on the bank, trying
to catch his breath. “Now, what are we going to do. The car's gone and we
can't get back across that,” he said as he nodded toward the raging torrent
in front of them.
“I guess the best thing to do is to find shelter and wait it out. I
remember a little cave near here. If we can reach that, we'll be okay until
the storm clears.”
Bill nodded. Jack helped him to his feet. “And, thanks,” Bill said. “Thanks
for pulling me out of the water and saving my life. I didn't know which way
to go.”
Jack laughed. “I think you're the one who had a hold of me rather than me
having hold of you. I was about to thank you for the same thing.”
Suddenly Bill stopped and turned to his friend. “Wait a minute. You were a
good distance away from me when we found this bank. But you said that I had
you, and I say that you had me. The truth is that neither one of us had the
other.”
“What are you saying,” Jack asked, suddenly becoming very nervous.
“If you were all the way up there and I was all the way down here,” Jack
asked, “then who was holding our hands?”
“Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him
sing songs of praise.” (James 5:13 NIV)
By Ed Price
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
James 1:5-7 “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to
all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let
him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of
the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that
he shall receive any thing of the Lord.”
Psalm 34:4-10 “I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from
all my fears. They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces
were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved
him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encampeth round about
them that fear him, and delivereth them. O taste and see that the LORD is
good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. O fear the LORD, ye his
saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do
lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any
good thing.”
2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the
whole earth, to shew Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is
perfect toward Him...”
Matthew 21:21-22 Jesus says, “…Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and
doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but
also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast
into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in
prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.
Today's Selected Poem: PRECIOUS IN HIS EYES
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/enpoem90.htm
Today's Selected Testimony: ALWAYS BE AVAILABLE
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony27.htm
In Christ’s Service,
Dwayne Savaya
God’s Work Ministry |
