Are you Discouraged?

Thought for the weekend of Nov, 23-25

"If you are going through a time of discouragement,
there is a big personal enlargement ahead."

                               Oswald Chambers
                          My Utmost for His Highest

Thought for the weekend

Thought for the weekend of November 16,2013

"The one way to peace and bliss, every prophet has told us, is to give yourself away."
       Ruth Cranston,  The Miracle of Lourdes

Do Not Be Afraid

 

Week of November 10

 

Several years ago I was going through a tough time and feeling a great deal of anxiety. Something happened that has been a source of comfort and courage ever since.

 

I need to say, right up front, that I have never practiced, nor do I agree with, what has sometimes been called “Bible roulette.” This is the technique

of seeking guidance from God by letting the Bible fall open at random, putting your finger on the page, and trying to interpret as a directive from

God the verse thus identified. On the other hand, in my personal devotions I will often select a passage to read as I feel led, or because I feel a need.

 

I must also say that the Bible I usually use for my devotional reading was, at the time I am referring to, still fairly new. It was not dog-eared from use, nor did it naturally fall open to any particular passages.

 

The event is recorded in my journal. But it need not be, for it stands out in my mind with crystal clarity.

 

I was alone and feeling agitated. There seemed no end to my anxiety. I cried out, “O God, I am so tired of being afraid!” It wasn’t a formal prayer. It was a cry from the heart.

 

At that moment I felt an urge, an invitation, a desire to turn to Scripture. As I reached for my Bible, I felt a definite inclination to turn to the Old Testament. But nothing more specific had yet come to mind. I opened the Bible somewhere around the middle. The very first words my eyes fell upon were these: “...do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God...”

 

I was awestruck. I tried to reproduce the event, but it was soon obvious that my Bible was not automatically opening to Isaiah 41:10.

 

The skeptic may call it coincidence. But I am convinced that God was in that event, speaking precisely to my anguish through those words of Scripture. Thanks be to God.

 

Persh Parker
Billings, Montana

God Intervenes at a truck stop

Week of November 3

 

 

I’m a salesman and a part time chaplain to the trucking industry. This is a true story.

 

Three days after 9//11, 2001 I was on my way to Destin Fl. for the annual convention of the Tennessee Trucking Association where I planned to launch Hope Haulers, a family of services to and through the trucking industry Upon arrival I wasn’t surprised to find everyone talking about 9/11. When I spoke with the association president he asked me if I would deliver the opening prayer. I said I would.

 

 When I stood up in front of the convention, and I hadn’t planned this, I said, “looking out at your faces I see some of you are wondering what is going on in the world and others of you look worried. I might feel the same way if it wasn’t for my faith and knowing my destiny. I believe God has us all here for a reason and if any of you have uncertainty in your life and are anxious see me before you leave this conference.”

 

Two hundred and fifty people came up to talk with me over the next three days.

 

Shortly after returning to Nashville I went to the chapel at the truck stop in Antioch to pick up some tools that I left there before going to Florida and to

 

 

talk with Chaplain Doug. A young man came in and started asking the chaplain questions. The nature of the questions told me I should retreat to the chaplain’s quarters and pray for Doug while he talks with the man.  I could hear the chaplain making progress when a lady truck driver comes in and interrupts the conversation. I came out and suggest that the lady and I go next door to the restaurant. She is angry with God and unloads on me. We talk for more than an hour and she calms down. I realize I have to leave and I give her my cell number and head back to the chapel to pickup my tools.

 

The chapel is empty and I wonder how Doug made out with the young man. As I walk out of the chapel with my tools I notice a truck waiting to pull up to the fuel isle but there is no truck in front of it. The driver is just staring straight ahead.

 

 I yell, “hey trucker you can move up.” No response, the driver stares straight ahead.

 

I walk over and jump up on his rail. “You ok?”

 

The driver slowly moves his head and says he is waiting for his wife who is in the restaurant. Then he adds, “I’m a mess.”

 

I tell him to pull around and park and to meet me in the chapel. I drop my tools in my truck and I spot

 

Doug in the restaurant. He tells me he had a good talk with the young man and has scheduled a follow up tomorrow. Together we go into the chapel and

pray for the man in the truck.

 

After a few minutes, he comes into the chapel. “You have something heavy weighing you down?” He nods. I ask, “are you a Christian?”

 

“Sorta.”

 

“Did you ever accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior?”

 

“Sorta.”

 

“Let’s address sorta. What do you mean by sorta?”

 

He tells me that he was kicked out of his house when he was 15, moved into the home of a pastor and his wife. He lived in the basement for a few years and that is when he “sorta” heard about the Lord.

.

“I find a good starting point is getting right with the Lord, would you like to do that,” I ask?

 

“OK, how do I do that?”

 

“Go for it! Just start praying.”

 

There is a long silence. He starts to sweat.

 

I say, “Tracey there is a battle going on right now over you. If it is alright with you I’ll put my hands on you and I’ll pray over your body. Are you comfortable with this?” He says, “Yeah.”

 

 After two minutes of prayer he opens up and there is a stream of confession, repentance and acceptance of Jesus as his Lord and Savior. We all rejoice. He tells us that the gal waiting in his truck is not his wife but his live in girlfriend.

 

“I need to get right with that. When she came out of the restaurant with our food she wanted to leave. I told her I had to go to the chapel. She said I’ll wait here.” He looks at me and says, “When I saw you go into the chapel I wondered if you were the chaplain. When I saw you come out I hoped you would come over. When you spoke I couldn’t move my head it was like it was frozen.”

 

Then he says, “I’m an owner operator. I’ve lost my job, I’m behind in my payments and I’m broke, I had a spot all picked out one and half hours up the road where I was going to drive off and end it all. Then you jumped up on my truck.”

 

Chuck Sonn
Nashville, Tennessee