Scripture
reading: 2 Sam 21-24 1 Chron
21 Ps 30 1 Thess 2
S. 2 Sam 22:33-34 God is my strong fortress; he has made my way safe.
He makes me as surefooted as a deer, leading me safely along the mountain
heights. Vs 37 You
have made a wide path for my feet to keep them from slipping. NLT
O. David recognizes God’s
protection in his personal life and repeatedly gives God the glory for his
survival in difficult circumstances.
A. Monday morning I was once
again made conscious of how marvelously the Lord is protecting me… even in
small things. I had just moved out of my hotel in Esquel, preparing to
travel to El Bolson, following the Andes foothills to the north for one hundred
miles. It was a cold, autumn morning. I loaded up the car, but it
refused to start. It took six tries and finally started on one cylinder,
then struggled to two and after a few minutes was running smoothly. But I
recognized that, without attention, on the next cold morning it would never
start again. But the Lord had allowed me to become acquainted with an
excellent Christian mechanic in this mountain town, so I drove to his
shop. He immediately dismantled almost everything under the hood, and
identified the problem that he suspected. Three of the four starter
heating plugs (like spark plugs) had run their life and were no longer
working. He dashed to buy four new ones before the parts shop closed at
noon and in an hour I was on my way.
But here is
the clincher. While standing around in the cold while he was working I
looked for my leather jacket in the car and suddenly realized that I had left
it in my hotel room. I called the hotel. They found it and had it
waiting for me.
P. So my dear Lord, here I am
laughing and singing. You tell my car to not start at the right moment…
to advise me it is time to replace the heater plugs… just when I am not in a
hurry on my only day off… after ministering almost every day of the week.
You supply me with a wonderful Christian mechanic ready to dismantle everything
above the engine with obvious expertise, who installs the needed parts and puts
it back together again in exactly one hour. And… I now realize that if
the car had started normally… I would have had to return 100 miles to retrieve
my leather jacket. Yes, I am laughing and singing Your praises, thanking
You for telling those plugs the perfect time to die… and, like David, I am
thanking You, Lord again and again for Your obvious timely care.
Ralph
PS.
Last night it was after midnight as I drove back to my little rented cabin in
Lago Puelo after a wonderful service at El Maiten. The small city of El
Maiten sits on a high plateau. I had 40 miles to go, much of it is
hairpin turns on a lonely, steep mountain road… and I only saw two cars going
the opposite way. These mountains are thick with natural growth of pines
and brush… and look exactly like western Oregon where I grew up.
Love it! I am alone, yet never alone… never a moment of loneliness
or fear. For the God that cares about my car and my leather jacket is with
me all the way. But I admit I keep my personal, assigned guardian angel
pretty busy. J
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