Proverbs 16:9 The mind of a man plans his way: but the LORD directs his steps.
As believers, we hold to the promise, “all things work together for good to them that are the called according to His purpose.” During these times, while the world seems to be unraveling … this is when we cling to the promises of God! This reminded me of a story that took place nearly ten years ago.
As I’ve been following the news about much of the United States being under a winter storm watch, with snow falling in unexpected places like Galveston, Texas, and Florida, it brought back memories of a story from over ten years ago.
It was January of 2011 when we arrived at the airport late Thursday night with our bags and our kiddos, only to find out that our flight was canceled because of a freak accident — a tractor ran into the plane, of all things! So we repacked our ourselves tightly into a small rental car to make the two-hour drive to get back home to Arad in the middle of the night. Our flight was postponed until Sunday.
Sunday came, and we got on the plane. We flew into Atlanta only to find that not only was our connecting flight canceled, but the airport was entirely shut down due to a severe ice storm. There was not one flight out, and all the hotels in the area were booked solid.
We had to arrive in Baltimore in time for some scheduled speaking engagements, so we decided to rent a car, despite everyone’s wide-eyed stares. Now, normally this is only about a 12-hour drive — however, because we were driving at a speed between 10 and 20 miles an hour for half of the way, it took us a whopping 22 hours!
Fortunately, the ice was so bad that every half an hour, I would have to pull over and break an inch or two of ice off the windshield wipers — so the freezing weather kept me nice and alert! But we got here safe and all in one piece, thank God.
As I drove, I thought about the fact that we are very quick to blame the devil for these kinds of circumstances. But the Bible says that ALL things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purposes, and in retrospect — our delay was instrumental in helping a dear friend to be able to make an emergency visit to her daughter, bless two lovely troubled teens and enabled us to share with and bless people we might have never met between Atlanta and Baltimore!
As believers, we hold steadfast to the promise that “all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” In times when the world seems to be falling apart, it is precisely then that we must cling to His promises even more. Life may be getting “more interesting,” but every strange circumstance, every change in plans, is a chance to trust God more deeply and share His love and the gifts He has entrusted to us. Looking back, it’s clear that perhaps God has been orchestrating it all along. Let every moment be an opportunity to trust Him and spread His love.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]A young reporter approached an old man on his 100th birthday. "Happy birthday, kind Sir! Can I bother you to answer one question? In all your years, of what are you most proud?" he asked.
A king was seated in a garden, and one of his counselors was speaking of the wonderful works of God. "Show me a sign," said the king, "and I will believe." "Here are four acorns," said the counselor, "will you, Majesty, plant them in the ground, and then stoop down for a moment and look into this clear pool of water?" The king did so, "Now," said the other, "look up."
Once upon a time, Truth went about the streets as naked as the day he was born. As a result, no one would let him into their homes. Whenever people caught sight of him, they turned away and fled. One day when Truth was sadly wandering about, he came upon Parable. Now, Parable was dressed in splendid clothes of beautiful colors. And Parable, seeing Truth, said, "Tell me, neighbor, what makes you look so sad?" Truth replied bitterly, "Ah, brother, things are bad -- very bad. I'm old -- very old, and no one wants to acknowledge me. No one wants anything to do with me."
Roger Babson, a famous statistician was having lunch with the President of Argentina, "Mr. Babson," the President said, "I have been wondering why it is that South America, with all its natural advantages, mines of iron, copper, coal and silver, rivers and great waterfalls is so far behind North America?" Babson replied, "Well, Mr. President, what do you think is the reason?" He answered, "..South America was founded by the Spanish who came in search of gold. North America was founded by the Pilgrims who went there in search of God."
As Chanukah, the feast of dedication, begins this evening, I’m often surprised how many people don’t realize that Yeshua (Jesus) celebrated Chanukah. In the gospel of John, it was during this winter feast that He was questioned as to whether He was the Messiah or not, and His amazing responses provoked His questioners to threaten to stone Him.
Today's word is not Hebrew or Greek, it's Inuit! The word is issumagijoujunnainermik. When missionaries first shared the gospel with the Inuit tribes in Alaska, they couldn't find any word in the Inuit language for forgiveness. So, they took a number of Inuit words and joined them to form a new word -- Issu-magi-jou-jun-nai-ner-mik -- and it became the Inuit word for forgiveness. The individual words are "Not-being-able-to-think-about-it-anymore."
True story! In 1940, a large and wonderful Christian family, the Rudolph's, announced the birth of their 20th baby! Though the baby was not expected to live, having been born prematurely and with polio, she defied all odds. She did live, but by the time she was four she had suffered polio, pneumonia and scarlet fever. This little girl was badly crippled with hardly any use of her left leg. While her brothers and sisters enjoyed running and playing outside, she was left confined to braces.