“God is our refuge and strength and ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear…” Ps 46:1-2
Distraught and exhausted, 14 yr old Shannon asked, “Mom, what are we going to do?” It was 11:15pm in NYC and we still did not have a place to lay our heads for the night. Our flight was cancelled, all hotels were booked and the airport terminal was closing at 1am. As Mom responded, “Pray”, the phone rang. It was Shaun asking us what was happening. Answer: “We don’t know, God hasn’t shown us yet, but as long as I stay awake, we’ll be ok…”.
~~Enter God and divine encounter #1: An enthusiastic, “I FOUND one!” interrupted our phone conversation. Management had been working for 2 hours to find us a place to stay, and this manager had discovered a hotel room vacancy…but it was located in a very sketchy part of NYC. ~~What to do?...(A mom alone with her 14 yr. old daughter at midnight in a ‘NYC not-so-safe suburb’?) We did some research and decided to trust this messenger’s lead. She called a cab and we were on our way.
Divine encounter # 2: Our cab driver emigrated from Ghana to the USA some years ago after witnessing the horrific event of seeing his bother decapitated by a drunk driver, and the subsequent lawlessness of the courts and governmental systems in his country. Intrigued by his peaceful presence, I asked Harr why he was not bitter… conversation ensued and ended with us sharing the Lord with Harr, and praying for salvation.
The next morning we awoke and went down for breakfast before heading back to the airport. Divine encounter #3: In the hotel lobby a couple from Nigeria caught our eye, and we struck up conversation. Lengthy story short, what resulted IS the answer to a 12 year prayer of ours. ~~Simply astounding.
Yes, God had personally engineered inconvenient and fearful circumstances for us to overcome so that He could lead us to a place that we would have never ventured to on our own, in order to bless us (all of us). Isn’t this so God?! Is. 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways My ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
Amidst wearisome, daunting, intimidating, or difficult circumstances, God is trustworthy and faithful. ~What an awesome example we have in Job’s personal story. Staying faithful to his faithful God, even when circumstances and relationships demanded differently, Job declared, “I know that You can do all things; no plan of Yours can be thwarted.” Jb. 42:2 And in the end, God bestowed on him amazing blessings: “The Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before…The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first.” Jb 42:10,12.
Amidst our trials, may we follow Job’s example and pray like the psalmist, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. … My soul finds rest in God alone.” (Ps.28:7; Ps. 62:1) This week let’s determine to face our fears and our unknowns in faith, beseeching and trusting God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength for the outcomes.
God bless you!Shaun and Betsy
~~Enter God and divine encounter #1: An enthusiastic, “I FOUND one!” interrupted our phone conversation. Management had been working for 2 hours to find us a place to stay, and this manager had discovered a hotel room vacancy…but it was located in a very sketchy part of NYC. ~~What to do?...(A mom alone with her 14 yr. old daughter at midnight in a ‘NYC not-so-safe suburb’?) We did some research and decided to trust this messenger’s lead. She called a cab and we were on our way.
Divine encounter # 2: Our cab driver emigrated from Ghana to the USA some years ago after witnessing the horrific event of seeing his bother decapitated by a drunk driver, and the subsequent lawlessness of the courts and governmental systems in his country. Intrigued by his peaceful presence, I asked Harr why he was not bitter… conversation ensued and ended with us sharing the Lord with Harr, and praying for salvation.
The next morning we awoke and went down for breakfast before heading back to the airport. Divine encounter #3: In the hotel lobby a couple from Nigeria caught our eye, and we struck up conversation. Lengthy story short, what resulted IS the answer to a 12 year prayer of ours. ~~Simply astounding.
Yes, God had personally engineered inconvenient and fearful circumstances for us to overcome so that He could lead us to a place that we would have never ventured to on our own, in order to bless us (all of us). Isn’t this so God?! Is. 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways My ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
Amidst wearisome, daunting, intimidating, or difficult circumstances, God is trustworthy and faithful. ~What an awesome example we have in Job’s personal story. Staying faithful to his faithful God, even when circumstances and relationships demanded differently, Job declared, “I know that You can do all things; no plan of Yours can be thwarted.” Jb. 42:2 And in the end, God bestowed on him amazing blessings: “The Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before…The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first.” Jb 42:10,12.
Amidst our trials, may we follow Job’s example and pray like the psalmist, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. … My soul finds rest in God alone.” (Ps.28:7; Ps. 62:1) This week let’s determine to face our fears and our unknowns in faith, beseeching and trusting God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength for the outcomes.
God bless you!Shaun and Betsy
