Pensamientos para hoy (afterthought for today)
Bears and Lightning Storms
Earlier this week (August 2007) my four kids and I went camping at Spruce Run Recreation Area. When you enter the park, one of the first things you notice are signs saying "Bear Country". Then when you get to your campsite you find yellow plastic notes nailed onto the picnic tables again warning about bears. The camp had a large beach where we swam for several hours, and we rented two canoes and paddled around the lake. From our camp we had a beautiful view of the lake, and spent some good, quality, family time together. We didn't have any problems with bears; they must have been away on vacation somewhere else, but about 3:30 Wednesday morning, we were awoken by thunder and lighting. I've been in some intense lighting storms, but this had to have been the biggest I've ever experienced. For at least thirty minutes we huddled in our tents surrounded by lighting and thunder, and I prayed to God for his protection. Eventually, the wind, rain, thunder, and lighting passed by, and we emerged from our tents grateful for the calm after the storm. Camping outdoors has some risks. The dangers posed by bears and lightning are real. Each night as I lay in my tent I called on God and asked him to protect my children and me. Many thoughts enter your mind when you consider these threats. Would a bear reach into one of our tents and try to grab us? Would we be struck by lightning? Is my life right with God? I naturally moved from a request for protection to a prayer of confession because I know that I cannot expect God to answer my prayers, if I am living in sin. David prayed: "If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear (Psalm 66:18)."1 You may not have to face the danger of bears or being caught in a lightning storm, but we all face times when we need to call on God for his protection. To make sure that God hears you when you pray, take time to confess anything that might be displeasing to him. If you will do this, then we have the promise:If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. . . This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him (1 John 1:9; 5:14-15).Facing the dangers with God, Pastor Steve August 9, 2007
Footnotes1 Psalm 66:18, NASB (New American Standard Bible). Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.
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