The Lord is near to those who call on Him. Jesus said that to enter into the kingdom of heaven you must be like a little child. (Matthew 18:3) Children know they are have no power, that they come running to mom or dad for help with some of the smallest things. We must again become like a child, calling on the Lord for help, for strength, for wisdom. The Scriptures are full of accounts of the Lord rescuing His people, those who call on Him. Find any faithful follower of Jesus and they will have several accounts as well. Here is a secret about them, there is no secret other than what this verse says.
Have you ever had a horse get themselves into a lot of trouble. They got tangled in a rope, or a gate, or some other thing that they find themselves entrapped in? They do one of two things: 1) they panic and attempt to get out on their own and usually get seriously injured, or 2) they wait for help.
I remember once when I was a teen, I got to the barn and started going about my business. I noticed my grandfather's team of horses along the fence line, not a big deal, just noticed. After getting my horses caught and in the barn, they were still along the fence line. Now that was odd, because they usually come up to the gate to see what is going on and if there is food involved. I decided to go down and see what was up. One of the horses had gotten his foot through the woven wire fence and caught between his hoof and shoe. He never panicked or struggled, just patiently stood there with his teammate right next to him the whole time.
I went and found the fencing pliers and got to work to free him. I ended up having to cut the fence. His foot was free, and yet he stood there until I also got the wire pulled out from under his shoe. Both horses then walked with me back up to the gate and of course then the both thought they needed a treat after all of that. Horses....
The moral of the story is, we need to be like the children, calling to the Lord for help and respond like this horse, patiently waiting until help arrives. There are a couple of things to note about the scenario with these horses. The first is, his teammate was right there with him the whole time, never leaving his side. That is a lesson for us if we have a friend going through a struggle, rather than leave them, we need to stand beside them, encouraging them in the Truth of the Lord, and praying with and for them. The other is that we need not to panic when we are in trouble. If that horse had panicked at any time he could have been seriously injured, or if he had panicked while I was attempting to free him, I could have been hurt. We must be patient and call upon the One who can give us help.
The Lord's help doesn't always come as we think it should though. He is the master and designer of all and He can come up with some pretty amazing ways to help us. Yet, they can be very simple as well. I am always amused by the story of a man who was caught up in the flood waters and was being swept away. He called out to the Lord, "Oh, God, save me!" Next thing he knew there was a man with a life ring throwing it to him to pull him from the waters. He said, "No, thank you. God will save me." A little further along a boat comes and they offer to pull him from the waters, "No, thank you. God will save me." After a little while longer a helicopter comes along and drops a ladder to him, "No, thank you. God will save me." The man drowns and gets to heaven and says, "God, why didn't you save me?!" God responded, "I sent you a life ring, a boat, and a helicopter; what else did you want me to do?!" How many times have we gone through life like that?
God can work supernaturally, but He can also work through natural means, that is called providence. We must call on Him in Truth. Knowing His Truth will help us distinguish which answer is the right one for our situation. Remember, we have an enemy that is also trying to destroy us and masquerades as an angle of light. (2 Corinthians 11:14) We must study God's Truth to know what is right and good.
The number one reason we started the #CornerstoneFellowshipMinistry was to help others know the truth. Fellowship means to be a friend, and to be a friend of God you must know Him, obey His commands, and walk in the light of His truth. If this is an area where you would like to grow, then check out what we have to offer on our website.
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