Spiritual Deliverance

It's been a very difficult three months for myself and my family. Since July 31, we have seen Dad suffer a stroke, Mom moved to a nursing facility, and our first cousin diagnosed with breast cancer. There have been times where I have felt close to despair. Deep down, I realize the absoluteness of God's love but I still wobble. On Friday, the bonus question on all my eighth grade tests and my sophomore quizzes was a prayer request. If you wrote down something for me to pray about, you received extra credit. As always when I do this, I was amazed at the struggles in these kids' lives. They are good kids from good families but pain is widespread. It's health issues and relationship problems and communication woes. And as always, I remember it's the human condition. God-fearing folks are not immune to the agony of the world but we sometimes think we should be. The Lord has promised deliverance to his own but it seems slow in arriving. The Psalms of David are permeated with this feeling of desperation. We know there is help but when we don't see it, we might go into panic-mode a bit.

In his sermon this morning, our Chinese preacher, Vito Chen, mentioned a video he had sent the congregation this week via e-mail. It was from You-tube and it centered on a confrontation at an African watering hole between lions and crocodiles over a water buffalo. Shi Min told me it was good so I watched it this afternoon. It wasn't good- it was tremendous! A baby water buffalo is cut off from the herd and is snatched by a pride of lions. The cats drag the buffalo into the water, ready to enjoy their meal when the poor animal is grabbed from behind by two crocodiles. A tug-of-war commences with the poor buffalo facing a horrific death no matter who wins this battle of nature. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the water buffalo herd reappears and............ Well, you are just going to have to watch it yourself. I must confess, I got chill bumps when I watched and then thought of how in the worst of times, our Father in heaven can snatch us from catastrophic happenings in our lives or every evil Satan has planned for us. It's never in our preferred time frame but maybe the Lord is teaching us lessons. We can't see heavenly plans as they unfold but we can see this video. Go to http://www.youtube.com/ and type in Battle At Kruger. The Lord sets the beginning and the end times. All is not lost just because we feel hopeless. One little water buffalo can testify to that.
Applicable quote of the day:
"God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless."
Chester Nimitz

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me st steve@hawleybooks.com